Following the recent restructure at Xbox, senior leadership has emphasised the firm’s focus on keeping games exclusive to its platform.
Last month, the company announced it would return to making its portfolio titles exclusive to its platform, after it began releasing games on PlayStation and Switch in 2024.
Chief strategy officer Matthew Ball clarified to GamesRadar that “this decision was made very early” and will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
“Asha [Sharma] believes that to build a platform, you must have exclusive services and software – in this case, games,” said Ball. “And so to return our platform to consistent growth, we need a reliable pipeline of exclusive games.”
CCO Matt Booty added: “There has to be a reason for people to buy an Xbox.”
Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are the first confirmed platform exclusives. Other upcoming titles, such as Forza Horizon 6 and Fable, will continue to be available on multiple platforms.
“To return our platform to consistent growth, we need a reliable pipeline of exclusive games,” said Ball. “I can assure you Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not the only titles we’re planning.”
Regarding the exclusivity decision process, Ball stated that Xbox has an established framework, “including how we evaluate them.”
Booty added: “We are the stewards of over 20 game franchises that have made a billion dollars in their lifetime. There are a lot of different games in our portfolio, and we have to think about how different games serve different purposes within it.”
Several factors influenced Xbox’s decision to reverse its multiplatform strategy after two years.
“There is scant evidence of any platform ever being built, let alone sustained, without having exclusive content,” Ball explained.
“It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about cable networks, streaming video channels, broadcast, terrestrial radio, a Hollywood studio, a music label – you need it.”
“We should narrow in on the literal role of these titles. We are asking players to make an investment in our consoles. These investments are real; they involve trade-offs in life. Given this, we need to give players a clear reason to pick us. And even after they chose us, we still have an obligation to earn that purchase.”
Ball continued: “There have been a lot of companies that have tried to come into the console or video game platforming business, lacking franchises such as ours and the player connections we have today, and instead just believing technology is going to get you across the line. It doesn’t.”
An unnamed studio lead within Xbox’s portfolio stated that while “console exclusives aren’t a silver bullet,” the previous strategy “wasn’t working, so clearly something had to change.”
“If this is a way for us to rebuild trust with the Xbox community and give players a reason to return home, then it has to be worth a shot.”
