Xbox's chief strategy officer confirmed that more “permanent” exclusives would be coming to the platform, but offered a description that wasn't really that clear.
Ever since Asha Sharma became CEO of Xbox and made it clear that she was listening to fans (for better or worse), it seemed inevitable that the company would quickly try to get back to exclusives. Considering that Xbox's transition into undeniably lucrative third-party releases began just two years ago, no one could have predicted how that would happen.
Instead of being saved for huge releases like The Elder Scrolls 6 or the next Halo, Xbox's exclusive strategy is confirmed to begin with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. It's somewhat unclear what the long-term future of exclusives looks like, and some recent comments haven't been very helpful.
More “permanent” exclusives are coming to Xbox, but don't be “locked in” on single player.
At least Xbox knows its strategy isn't clear.
Yesterday, GamesRadar+ published an interview with Xbox's Chief Content Officer Matt Booty and Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball about the company's exclusive return. Ball begins by debunking claims that even Xbox employees were surprised by the move, noting that new CEO Asha Sharma made the decision “very early.”
Booty ensures that exclusives are here to stay because people need a reason to buy an Xbox and they serve as a “reward” for supporters. It was also reaffirmed that E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not time-limited exclusives, but rather 'permanent things' that will be joined by other titles in the future. As Ball said, “These won’t be the only two titles.”
As for which games can be exclusive, this is where it gets confusing. Gears and Clockwork have proposed single-player games that will be exclusives, but Booty says not to “get overly obsessed” with this because it's not guaranteed. Booty claims that the team should think about “how different games serve different purposes,” but that doesn't really say anything.
If your head hurts a little, you're not alone. At the very least, Ball acknowledged that the “framework for making these choices” isn’t clear to players and that the team is “working on making that clearer.” But for now, we'll just have to wait and see what Xbox has planned for future releases.
But from the sounds of it, if a game like The Elder Scrolls can reach such a large audience across all consoles, while games like Gears and the next Halo are essentially Xbox, Xbox may be hesitant to say that all of its single-player games are exclusive. It's just a guess, but it's the best we have at the moment.
