Take note Xbox, exclusives are the main reason people buy video game consoles

A new consumer survey has highlighted the main reason why people buy video game consoles, and it should be a surprise to no one.

Over the course of the Xbox Series X/S’s lifespan, Microsoft has peddled the idea that gaming habits are shifting beyond one singular device and that exclusive games are anti-consumer.

As a result, we’ve seen Xbox take a multiplatform approach, with Microsoft-published games like Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones And The Great Circle arriving on PlayStation 5, with the latter set to hit Nintendo Switch 2 this month.

Of course, the key reason why Microsoft started this strategy is because the Xbox Series X/S has sold so poorly. If you need further evidence of this fact, look no further than a recent consumer survey from Circana.

As reported by The Game Business, Circana’s Q1 2026 consumer survey has found the number one reason people buy consoles is for their exclusive games.

According to the survey, 41% of US gamers cited exclusives as the driving reason why they buy a console. This is down by 8% over last year, but it’s still the dominant factor.

A podcast on the report added that the number two reason is ‘because friends and family use the same console,’ which was cited by 38% of the survey’s respondents.

As shown by the success of the Nintendo Switch 2, and [every other popular console throughout history, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. In fact, this has been the accepted logic for decades, which was only questioned by Microsoft’s forced pivot.

For some reason that convinced Sony to dabble in a multiplatform push too, as seen with its PC ports and putting games like Patapon and Everybody’s Golf on Switch. However, while multiplayer games like Helldivers 2 and Marathon have benefitted from being on PC, the results are very different when it comes to single-player titles.

As highlighted by The Game Business, God Of War Ragnarök only attracted 300,000 players in its launch month on PC, compared to the 6.9 million on PlayStation 5 and 4. The numbers have only got worse over time, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 seeing 260,000 players at launch on PC, and Horizon: Forbidden West just 230,000.

These low numbers are likely why Sony is reportedly shifting away from PC for its future single-player exclusives, but it’s unclear why the company thought it would be a worthwhile endeavour in the first place – especially as these games were arriving on PC many months after they launched on PlayStation 5 and often via low quality ports.

While Sony appears to be drifting back to traditional exclusives, the big question is whether Microsoft will follow suit. Xbox’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, has already said it is ‘re-evaluating’ its approach to exclusivity for its next console Project Helix.

Microsoft has had some success with its multiplatform pursuits, with Forza Horizon 5 and Sea Of Thieves both selling well on PlayStation 5, but the same can’t be said for Starfield or The Outer Worlds 2, based on estimates from Alinea Analytics.

Even so, if Microsoft wants Project Helix to put Xbox as a brand back on the map, all the evidence suggests it will have to revert back to exclusives to some degree, if it wants to thrive again. 

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