Asha Sharma Discusses Why Xbox Decided To Bring Back Exclusives

The advantage that Xbox has is that next generation, Xbox games will be the same as PC games. If they overhaul their store as they should and make Xbox on PC smooth enough, they surely could reach all their console fans and lots of PC players, on top of those attracted by Play Anywhere.

In Asha we trust !

It’s a matter of balance. But the more big exclusive franchises there are, the better it will be for the whole ecosystem — for Game Pass, for the hardware, for game sales, and I’d even say especially for Xbox’s brand image, which directly or indirectly affects the sales of Xbox hardware, content and services.

Interesting. Will there metrics be how many Xbox players play them, buy them, increase GP numbers, or uptick in console sales? Because maybe I’m misreading the room but I doubt Clockwork Revolution is doing much of anything to console sales. Nor does Gear look like much more than a passing GP fling for a few hours. But maybe that’s just me.

Maybe that statement was a ripcord to a future parachute to look at Xbox players and say, “see we tried exclusives and you didn’t do enough to make it worth it for us.” It saves face for the new CEO. Either that or she’ll have a very short tenure.

@Banjo- fully agree! The Play Anywhere is blurring the line between Console and PC game. Now it is just a game that you buy once and can play where ever you want (Console, PC, Cloud, Handheld).

“Increasingly we are becoming more of a platform” I’m sorry… what? Xbox have been a “platform” since day one. It’s this sort of reinvention of the English language and spin that gets everyone yip yapping…

The headline should be her saying Xbox isn’t healthy……

That’s a remarkable change in tone from the usual Xbox PR machine and it’s refreshing.

This is the second time I've seen an interview where there is mention of becoming a platform, whereas I think of xbox being an established platform. I have not seen any follow up on that (to be fair, I'm reading the articles, not the full interviews). Is this saying that the "this is an xbox" strategy made them no longer a platform but they are becoming one again? Or is it a different sense of the term I am not familiar with?

@themightyant I think the Play Anywhere is for the current Xbox owners. It slowly bridges that gap from console to PC, ready for project Helix.
Get's rid of the needing to buy another version of the games you own to take advantage of a system (ie PS4->5, Switch -> Switch 2).
That is just my thoughts on it

@Qozmyk this is fairly accurate. Forza sold loads and loads on Ps5 which is an excellent thing, money money to Xbox studios helps everything, Gears I assume didn’t sell as well, so they are holding back this and will hold back a few others just to say “we gave you exclusives” if they end up back on top with more sales on Xbox than PS then they won’t need to bother with PS but that’s a long game. Either way I still don’t understand why people here care so much…. Xbox studios selling massive amounts of games is good for Xbox in general. Makes everything stronger not weaker.

@themightyant cost is the only reason. If Xbox studio games are more expensive on steam. I bought Forza Horizon 6 on Xbox over steam for now even though I’d play it more on the deck.

Stream playing games still isn’t the big draw many seem to think. More people in the world have internet connections that make it a horrible experience over a good one so I still don’t think play anywhere is the huge pull people here think and the fact she says Xbox isn’t healthy would suggest people aren’t throwing money at them

@ZeD Yes. Every next-generation Xbox game, first or third-party, will be Play Anywhere by default. This was confirmed at the 2026 Game Developer Conference, one of the slides showing how Xbox games development was separated from Windows development until now, requiring an Xbox port, and how it will be merged next generation, no longer being separated builds.

On top of that, as you said, you don't have to buy the same game on two platforms nor pay for the same game on the same platform like the upgraded versions of Nintendo and PS.

@RentedPanda I think she's referring to a differentiated platform, not just a platform, and by that she means with exclusives.

@Stocksy

Stream playing games still isn’t the big draw many seem to think. More people in the world have internet connections that make it a horrible experience over a good one so I still don’t think play anywhere is the huge pull people here think

Play Anywhere is not the streaming version. Play Anywhere means one purchase for a game that is playable on console, PC and handheld. Streaming is one of the included features of Game Pass.

Edited for clarification and adding quotes.

I always see this play anywhere mentioned but are casual console players who play Fortnight and Roblox going to buy a PC hybrid over a standard console? Most parents will go with a dedicated console. And PC players hate console players at least the hardcore ones do, so how will that help XBOX when they are targeting the hardcore crowd with the Helix?

And yeah of course the business isn't health Asha your company spent years trying to kill XBOX. And now they are crawling back hoping to win some browny points. What about when the next lot of exclusives fail to reach sales targeted figures like Avowed and The Outer Worlds didn't?

I'm still so angry that if I want a new XBOX next gen I have to have windows, a hybrid, or whatever it is going to be. I want a pure console with none of that bloated nonsense. If I wanted a PC I'd buy one.

@Stocksy I wonder if all of this not for next gen, but the gen after Helix. Helix is the stop-gap to get all Xbox console games thoroughly ported to PC so Xbox can step back from consoles and say, “See, we respected you and your digital library and can continue to play on any Windows device you want.” At the end of the day they need revenue and I don’t think that returning to an approach that is locking gamers into a hardware box is going to grow their rev stream.