There's been a whole lot going on in the world of Xbox over the past year, and we've seen what appears to be a transition from a publisher-focused mentality to a platform-focused mentality ever since Asha Sharma has taken the reigns as boss.

For example, she's been putting a lot of emphasis on console compared to what we've seen over the past few years, and both Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution were revealed as Xbox console exclusives along the way.

It's clear that Xbox is dedicated to its platform business with the Project Helix console around the corner, and speaking to The Expansion Pass podcast recently, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden advised that picking "a lane" (and sticking to it) is his biggest piece of advice for Xbox as things stand.

"You've gotta pick a lane. Either you're going to be a platform competitive with PlayStation, which Xbox has not been competitive with PlayStation for years, but that's not out of the window - you can still make another run at it, and there are certain decisions you have to make around that about the platform. We've talked about exclusivity, we've talked about how do you incentivize third-parties to support your platform in a meaningful way.

Or, you sit back and realise you're the biggest game publisher in the [western] world with Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard and all the other pieces - be that. This is your Dreamcast moment, when SEGA just decided they were going to be on PS2 and get out of the hardware business and just be a software company. It can be done, it's been done before.

So, that's my advice. Pick a lane."

A bit earlier in the chat, Layden advised that he believes you "can't be successful at both", because a "platform needs exclusives" but being the biggest publisher in the world requires you to be "on every platform, because that's how the business model works".

"Microsoft never really picked a lane. Or if they picked a lane, they didn't stay in it very long. Are you going to be a platform? A platform needs exclusives or else the platform has no meaning. Or are you going to be the biggest publisher in the world now that you have Activision and Blizzard? If you're the biggest publisher in the world, you almost have to be on every platform because that's how the business model works. You can't be successful at both."

"Are you going to have a subscription service? If you're going to do that, are you expecting people are going to buy content when they can get it on a subscription service anyway? How are you going to square that circle and try to make the math work?"

Honestly though, we reckon there's a lot more room for maneouver here than in most situations that could fall under this "pick a lane" banner. Yes, it's imperative that Xbox doesn't deviate from its focus on console at any point in the near future, but there's still a ton of publishing potential when it comes to Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard and beyond.

Are exclusives important? Yes. Does every Xbox game need to be exclusive? No. We've seen Xbox doubling down in recent times on its commitment to hardware and not being sold off by Microsoft, so don't get worried here - there's still a long way to go for Xbox's platform business. Layden is simply suggesting that he believes Xbox has changed lanes too much over the years, and now it needs stick to what appears to be a platform-focused mentality.

What are your thoughts about this? We'd love to hear from you down in the comments below.

[source youtube.com, via gamespot.com]