Windows Central Insider
Ever since Phil Spencer stepped down in February and Asha Sharma became the Xbox CEO for Microsoft, one of the biggest requests she's been flooded with by the platform's community is the return of exclusive games. In recent years, Microsoft has brought all of its first-party titles to PS5 sooner or later, with some even making their way to Nintendo Switch 2 as well.
Their success overall has been mixed, with some games like Sea of Thieves and Grounded performing very well, and Forza Horizon 5 in particular selling like crazy on PS5. Others, though, seem to have barely found an audience on PlayStation, leaving many with the bitter belief that Xbox is throwing away the value its exclusives bring for mediocre profits.
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Notably, "The number two reason, by the way, is because friends and family use the same console — 38% of respondents say that. But regardless, number one reason people play on consoles is because of exclusives. If you look at sales and player data, we can see that exclusives do drive sales," he added.
It's about as direct a confirmation you could ask for regarding the impact of exclusive games on hardware sales, and it couldn't have come at a more relevant time with how hot of a topic that's been for Microsoft and Xbox in recent weeks. It also lines up with a recent poll we conducted in which over 14,000 Xbox gamers said they believe the platform needs some form of exclusivity.
Asha Sharma first hinted at Xbox shifting its position on exclusives when she noted "the plan is the plan until it's not the plan," and later said Xbox leadership will "make some calls" about exclusivity after much careful consideration. Despite how much fans want exclusives to return, though, it's not an easy decision; big multiplatform successes do generate a lot of revenue, and that revenue will help Microsoft contend with rising costs.
Ultimately, I'm in agreement with our executive editor and Xbox expert Jez Corden, who wrote he expects exclusivity to return for high-profile single player franchises like Gears of War and perhaps even Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, with Forza and other multiplayer-driven series that greatly benefit from wider avenues of access still going multiplatform.
In that scenario, I believe Microsoft would be giving itself the best possible chance to benefit from both sides of the equation — raking in profits from PlayStation and Switch with games that have a high chance of selling well on those platforms, while simultaneously releasing desirable narrative-driven single player games that give users a strong reason to buy the upcoming Project Helix console. Of course, though, only time will tell.
How do you feel about Xbox's relationship with exclusive games? Do you think they're important for the brand's success, and do you want to see Microsoft return to them? Share your thoughts below, both in the comments and with a vote in our poll.
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