Despite previous indications from newly-minted Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma, who took over for Phil Spencer following his abrupt retirement, that exclusives could be returning to the Xbox brand, one reliable Xbox insider has asserted that won’t ultimately be the case.
Taking to NeoGAF, reliable Xbox insider SneakersSO stood firm that Xbox exclusive titles aren’t returning in a thread discussing whether exclusivity could ultimately “save” the next Xbox console.
“Exclusives are absolutely not happening,” the insider wrote.
Those are some rather strong words, all things considered. They also go against what Sharma had hinted at recently, making them particularly interesting.
That’s because, following her promotion, Sharma took to social media to write, “Hear you” in response to a gamer who noted that “Xbox games must be only on Xbox.”
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Yes, it wasn’t exactly the “Xbox games will only be on Xbox moving forward,” that everyone was looking for, but Sharma also didn’t need to respond to a fan, either.
The Dam Has Already Been Broken On Xbox Exclusives
While it’s certainly not impossible to imagine a more stringent approach moving forward with Xbox titles, especially in light of the fact that Sony themselves are pulling back from releasing its PlayStation single-player titles on PC moving forward, it does become a lot harder to imagine when you see that the dam has already been broken.
Already, both Gears of War via Gears of War Reloaded and Forza Horizon 5 have made their way to PlayStation consoles, representing two of Xbox’s core “pillars.” The third, Halo, has already been confirmed to debut on PlayStation via Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the first Halo game.
That’s not even counting all the other titles, like Doom, Avowed and South of Midnight, that come from Xbox-owned studios that have already released on PlayStation or have future plans to, or Fable, a key tentpole exclusive that will also see a debut on PlayStation later this year.
Things also get a lot harder to imagine when you factor in the revenue that this third-party approach has brought in. Earlier this year, Alinea Analytics estimated that five million copies of Forza Horizon 5, a four-year-old title, had sold on PlayStation alone, generating over $300 million in revenue from simply porting it over to PlayStation hardware.
Losing that cash might not be something Microsoft is wholly committed to, even if it meant goodwill from its fanbase.
- Date Founded
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April 4, 1975
- CEO
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Satya Nadella
- Headquarters
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Redmond, Washington, United States
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