Another day, another update on what’s happening over at Xbox after last month’s showcase and the subsequent cuts of 3,200 jobs and studio divestments. The matter at hand today: console exclusives, and based on past comments by Xbox, we don’t really know what to expect or what’s going on.
Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball and chief content officer Matt Booty tried to get a clearer message across during a recent chat with GamesRadar, leading with the fact Xbox has more plans for console exclusives in the near future. “I can assure you, Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not the only titles we’re planning,” Ball confirmed. “To grow a platform like ours, you have to have exclusive games and services. These are not going to be the only two titles.” This, of course, is a strategy we’ve heard a bit about before.
The next Gears of War’s Xbox exclusivity has been a particularly hot topic since early June, with developers insisting that a PS5 version was never planned despite evidence to the contrary. It’s also a concern for Gears of War: E-Day’s longevity, which will likely be tied to its online component’s post-launch support. Last year brought us a surprising PS5 version of Gears of War: Reloaded, and it’s also worth noting that arguably Xbox’s biggest brand, Halo, is about to make its debut on a Sony console.
The thinking seems to be that Microsoft will make its single-player games Xbox exclusives while keeping its live-service multiplayer games multi-platform to ensure they have the largest audience possible – this is what Sony appears to be aiming for. But Booty said he “wouldn’t overly fixate on single-player”, and that this assumption or approach “isn’t something that’s carved in stone”.
It’s confusing. Ball even admitted that the current strategy may not be “obvious to all our players” and that Xbox wants to clear things up. But for now, it seems the company still hasn’t picked a definitive lane, and with the impact of the recent layoffs still being felt all over the company – and the prospect of 1,600 layoffs to happen between now and next summer – it’s hard to get too excited for appeasement-style announcements such as Bethesda’s recent roadmap revelation.
