One of the biggest surprises of 2025 was Microsoft’s push to bring even more of its games to PlayStation, its longtime rival in the console gaming space. Not only have those ports been well received, but they’ve also been best-sellers, and next year will see the arrival of Halo and Forza Horizon on PlayStation. In a new interview, Microsoft’s president of game content and studios, Matt Booty, spoke about the success of Xbox games on PS5 and the reaction to Halo’s announcement for PS5.
“We had a bit of a moment earlier in the summer from end of April to end of June, where we had six of the top 10 games on PlayStation were our Xbox games,” Booty said to Variety. “I look at that as validation for the teams, but most importantly, it’s an opportunity for more players to engage with our content, to come into our worlds.”
Halo has long been considered the crown jewel of Xbox, and the next game in the franchise, a campaign-only remake of the original titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, will launch simultaneously on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 in 2026. Booty said the announcement was well received and that Microsoft was really pleased with its efforts to bring its content to more people.
Booty also touched on several other topics in the interview, like Microsoft’s u-turn on charging $80 for new games, suggesting a more dynamic approach to video game monetization in the future. The Xbox Game Studios boss also commented on the disappointing reception to Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and the challenges of releasing a new Call of Duty game every year.
Activision has also pledged not to do back-to-back entries in the same Call of Duty sub-series like Modern Warfare or Black Ops, and it aims to deliver “meaningful, not incremental” innovation going forward.