One of the biggest, and most silent, victories Microsoft secured for itself last generation was when it managed to get Minecraft on the Xbox 360- then as a timed exclusive. This long predated them buying out Mojang and the property, you see, and at the time, Minecraft was not the behemoth that it is today.
Few paid attention to it, but Minecraft would end up being a major win for Microsoft and the Xbox 360, helping the console expand to newer market demographics in the process. I have long contended that Microsoft’s securing of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the hit battle royale game that hit Steam Early Access earlier this year, as a limited Xbox exclusive (for the time being, who knows how things play out in the future), might end up having the same effect- and it looks like no less than Xbox boss Phil Spencer himself expects similar results.
Responding to a fan on Twitter, Spencer said that expects the results of bringing PUBG to Xbox One to be similar to bringing Minecraft to Xbox 360. He added that while he does acknowledge that the games are different, he feels like the game will be huge on the console regardless, also saying that he is extremely happy for Bluehole, and the success they have managed to achieve for themselves.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is out now on PC via Steam Early Access, and is due to get a launch on Xbox One via Game Preview before the end of this year.
Similar to bringing Minecraft to console. Different game obviously but I expect PUBG to be very big on Xbox for many years.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 19, 2017
And having gotten to know the team at Blue Hole more, I'm incredibly happy for them. Great to see them having this success
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) September 19, 2017
