'It's A Tough Topic' - Xbox CEO Shares Her Latest Thoughts On Exclusives

Everything that is under XGS should be Xbox console exclusive and day 1 PC. All Bethesda games should be a year timed exclusive and all non COD Activision games as well. Invest in quality third party AA games for timed exclusivity. You never know when the next E33 or Arc Raiders is going to pop up. There was some mismanagement when games like Perfect Dark, John Romero’s game and the Zenimax destiny like MMO got canceled. Bring them all back. Do better and maybe you will build trust back and get a foothold as a platform again. If it doesn’t pan out over the course of Helix than I guess full 3rd party is all you got left for an option lol

FYI, for those who want to share their opinion with the Xbox team: You can find 2 surveys in the Xbox Insider app, discussing "features" which you would appreciate Xbox to focus on in the future.

I don't know how this will play out, but things can't go on like this. Xbox is releasing practically everything on multiple platforms, while at the same time, many titles are skipping Xbox altogether. It's a massive disaster, no one is ever going to choose Xbox as their platform for gaming and building a digital library, because right now it's simply not a viable option.

Either they commit once and for all to providing compelling reasons for Xbox to make sense as a platform, or they shut it down and become a publisher, thereby giving players a way to export their years of achievements and progress to another platform. But they can’t keep going like this, this ambiguity isn’t fair to their users and the fans who have supported them for years.

Xbox have put themselves in a very difficult position regarding exclusives, with their biggest game (FH6) already committed to PS5 and of course the Halo remake, then you have Helix round the corner which is seemingly a PC with Steam on it. Then you have their PC store which still misses out on so many AAA games, with Xbox themselves selling their own ganes on Steam.

They need to fully commit to one or the other and not some weird middle ground which helps nobody. Either go full 3rd party but with their own hardware as an option, or bring back exclusives by not having them on PS5 AND Steam. This in turn can help to fully unify their console and PC stores and encourage proper support for the latter

I thought it was interesting she said exclusive content and services without explicitly mentioning games.

Could be a non thing and games is thrown under content but it caught my eye a bit.

I think this should remain as is for now and cater to as many folks as they can on all the platforms. Xbox need to reach people and show them what they have because folks are not coming to their current platform in any great numbers.

That said I think there is a stronger argument to be made to revisit exclusive when Helix is in the hands of consumers. For now though I still think every game on every platform makes more sense both financially & from a visibility point of view.

I have nothing against them keeping games exclusive, at the end of the day Its their choice, however I don't think it would be a good idea. With Helix, exclusives are not going to convince people to part ways with £1000+ for what is going to be a niche device compared to the Series devices. I agree that exclusives can help sell a platform, but the platform has to be in the right price range for that to happen.

It also doesn't address the issue of are Xbox sales low because of multiplatform, or did Xbox go multiplatform because of low sales. Personally I think its the later, so even if they revert will we be right back here again in a few years.

i would say 3-6m exclusivity for SP games would be the right call as its enough to keep their core players happy, but quick enough to keep sales traction on the alternate platforms. For MP / LV Games then kick them out everywhere day 1.

She's basically saying that, as the second greatest publisher, Call of Duty along other massive IPs like Minecraft will stay multiplatform, and that they need to evaluate what games ("content") become exclusive, because "a platform needs exclusives".

They could be considering keeping games off other platforms, including Steam. They should overhaul and promote their own console-PC store and give it something to compete (not defeat) with Steam. If they want to protect their platform, they need to make the most of what they've got.

Selling Xbox ports on Steam and PS5 has been a mixed bag, it's short-term money at best. It hasn't paid off because still Sony pays third parties to skip Xbox at launch, hasn't attracted new platform users and there are no other Sony games on Xbox besides Helldivers II.

Xbox One and Series X|S are liked and supported by most publishers. We got tons of Xbox One X upgrades, more than PS4 Pro, and popular Japanese IPs joined Series X|S for the first time. They have the greatest first-party software output. All they need to do is make their platform appealing on console and PC so more third parties join their storefront on day one, being able to remain relevant in both the console and PC space.

Xbox can't release everything everywhere and expect their platform to grow in the super-competitive PC market and when Playstation remains the popular and casual home console and still makes efforts to hinder Xbox.

Timed exclusives alone aren’t enough. Some games need to be Xbox/PC exclusives to bring people into the Xbox ecosystem.

At the same time, major multiplatform franchises acquired through Activision Blizzard and Bethesda should remain multiplatform to avoid frustrating existing players. Microsoft isn’t Sony.

That’s probably how things will play out anyway: some timed exclusives, some officially multiplatform titles and some true permanent exclusives, with clear communication about which games are Xbox/PC-only.

If people believe that every game will eventually come to PS or Switch, there’s far less incentive for them to join the Xbox ecosystem in the first place.

Anyway, she is the boss, she knows about all of this.

The way i see it if they decide to keep.certaing games exclusive to xbox Gears E-Day could be one of them since halo, fable and forza horizon are already announced for playstation.Also if they take under consideration the fact that gears are reloaded didn't attract much interest from playstation players then gears e-day is logical choice as an xbox exclusive. Another possible option could the next elder scrolls or fallout series which could surely help xbox grow as a platform. Clockwork revolution could also be launched as an exclusive to xbox at least as a timed exclusive.