Microsoft plans to collect feedback from game developers, including those who use competitors’ products, as part of the expanded Xbox Research program.
By survey Microsoft plans to involve all employees (not just techies), who will be asked to provide feedback on tools, performance settings, debugging utilities, and many other aspects of game development.
«We want to hear from everyone who works on games or supports game studios, because if we can make your life easier, it will make games better,» says Xbox’s chief user researcher, Deborah Henderson.
Microsoft also plans to pay attention to the information of game studios that do not deliver games to Xbox.
«If you’re not using Xbox, we’d like to know why,» says Henderson. «And frankly, if you’re using our competitors’ products, you probably have a great perspective we can learn from!» .
Microsoft’s expanded research program comes amid some notable delays in third-party releases on Xbox, including Baldur’s Gate 3 was released on Xbox a few months after its PS5 debut due to technical issues with the Xbox Series S; while Capcom last month announced two new fighting game collections (Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics and Capcom Fighting. Collection 2), which will appear on Xbox only in 2025 after «technical discussions» with Microsoft.
Black Myth: Wukong will also be coming to Xbox after its release on PS5, as developers are currently «optimizing the Xbox Series X|S version to meet» quality standards. While last month, the developers Enotria: The Last Song publicly announced an «indefinite delay» of the Xbox game after facing Microsoft’s verification process (the studio’s statement attracted the attention of Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who reached out to the team to help resolve the situation).
Source: The Verge