To grow the console market, Xbox needs to be more like PC

Phil Spencer doesn't just want Xbox games on other consoles. He wants other video game retailers on Xbox as well.

In an interview with Microsoft's CEO of Gaming during the annual Game Developers Conference, Spencer told Polygon how he'd like to break down the walled gardens that have historically limited gamers to making purchases through the first-party stores tied to each console. Or, in layman's terms, why you should be able to buy games from other stores on Xbox – not just the official storefront.

Spencer mentioned her frustrations with closed ecosystems, so we asked for clarity. Could he really see a future where stores like Itch.io and the Epic Games Store existed on Xbox? Was it just a matter of figuring out mountains of paperwork to get there?