© Microsoft

Microsoft and Nintendo's burgeoning relationship continued at E3 this year, with the news that Minecraft Dungeons is Switch-bound and that Banjo and Kazooie – characters owned by Microsoft, lest we forget – are joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster.

It's tempting to consider how far this love-in could progress, especially as Microsoft is looking to expand its gaming services to platforms beyond the Xbox; for example, it is currently working to bring its Game Pass subscription service to Android-based phones, tablets and TV set-top boxes.

In a chat with Giant Bomb (thanks, Liam Robertson), Microsoft's Phil Spencer was quizzed on the chances of Game Pass coming to Switch, and his reply was more positive than you might expect:

I have said, over time, I'd like to take Game Pass everywhere... We're focused on the streaming side, at least, on Android, just because in some ways it's the hardest for us because it's so divserse in terms of the number of devices. I love the role that Nintendo plays in the industry; I love the fact that Minecraft Dungeons was announced there and we have really good relationships with them; [there's] obviously Banjo in Smash. But that platform is different enough from an Xbox platform that it's not trivial for us just to say 'Ok, all those games would run there'. So then you're like, 'Ok, are we going to stream the games to there?' I love what Switch is, but the opportunity globally to focus on an Android platform is just such a natural first move for us. And frankly, [it] will take us quite a while to work through that, so that's the focus for us right now.

But I want to have the best console experience because of what it gives you; I want to be sitting on the couch with an amazing experience; it sounds great, I have access to any game that I want to play, and if I want to take that while I'm on the go, I think the Switch is a really cool platform for that; it's just that in the near-term, it's kind of hard for us to priortise different than we are today.

While it's clear that Game Pass coming to Switch is some way off – even if it ever happens at all – what really shines through in Spencer's comments is that Microsoft is open to working with Nintendo in the future.

Perhaps we'll see other collaborations between the two, such as Xbox Live Achievements or even more Microsoft-owned games on Switch? (Rare Replay, please.)