Xbox Finally Has Big Exclusives Again, But Gamers Are Still Confused

Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit for the first time,” referring to his opponents who thought they knew exactly what to do…until that first hit rang out. The saying has since been used in cautionary ways, much like “No plan survives first contact with the enemy,” but Xbox has seemingly taken this in a completely different way. Which is, “The plan is the plan until it’s not the plan,” per CEO Asha Sharma, or until feedback from “fans” comes into play.

That could range from changing Xbox to All-Caps XBOX, ensuring that logos for other platforms like PlayStation aren’t included with its reveals, and, most importantly of all, the nature of exclusives. Because even if you could dismiss the first two as innocent fun or bowing to a vocal minority, the top post on the recent XBOX Play Voice forum is clear: Return to exclusives.

So for XBOX’s 25th anniversary and the 20th anniversary of Gears of War, Sharma announced that Gears of War: E-Day would be an Xbox console exclusive (along with Clockwork Revolution, but we’ll get to that). It’s still coming to PC and launching day one on Game Pass, but if you picked up Reloaded on PS5 last year and wanted more Gears, well, you’ll need either of those or to wait.

And until the plan isn’t the plan anymore, you’ll be waiting for a while. XBOX clarified to VGC that both E-Day and Clockwork Revolution aren’t timed exclusives. Furthermore, any title that’s been announced as multiplatform – so Halo: Campaign Evolved and Forza Horizon 6 – will still stick to that plan. The same goes for Grounded 2, which was confirmed days before all this hullabaloo for PS5, and Fable, which is available to pre-order on the PlayStation Store.

But also Senua, the third game in the Hellblade series, and State of Decay 3? Sharma’s tweet on Twitter talked about wanting people to choose Xbox because “of great games and experiences. That also means giving you something that was made for Xbox.” Hence why E-Day and Clockwork are Xbox console exclusives. So does that mean other titles weren’t made for Xbox, even though they’re from Xbox first-party studios? And in the case of State of Decay 3, it wasn’t even announced for PS5 until recently.

Chief content officer Matt Booty offered a…bit of clarification on this to GamerTagRadio. In a way, announcing these exclusives is a way to “reward fans” who have stuck by it for so long (which I can only interpret as giving them a reason to finally use their Xbox). However, the “big multiplayer titles” and “live service games” will remain multi-platform. A similar strategy to PlayStation, and it makes some sense if State of Decay 3 is included in the “live service” category if it’s supported for years to come, like its predecessor. But E-Day has a seasonal roadmap of multiplayer content. Does that not make it live-service in a way? Does its multiplayer not fall into “big” offerings?

And if all this wasn’t enough – yes, there is indeed more – newly-hired chief strategy officer Matthew Ball told The Game Business that the decision to announce two console exclusives was to show players that this isn’t a “one-off” decision or “commemorative” but rather the “start of a program.” He also reaffirmed live-service titles being non-exclusive, citing Call of Duty as an example. So really, when Microsoft mentions any of its “big” multiplayer offerings, it’s talking about Call of Duty first and foremost.

He also acknowledged that the company is trying to go in a direction where the “average current Xbox player” can understand its strategy “very simply.” It’s just not ready for that. And when asked why Senua was multiplatform and whether this had to do with pre-existing commitments to teams and/or partners, Ball said, “No further comment,” and a chuckle was had.

So with all that out of the way, I have to admit to being morbidly fascinated by all this.

Don’t get me wrong. Making Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution an Xbox console exclusive? Not the worst decision in the world. Hardware revenue has dropped continuously over numerous quarters, and according to Ball, even Game Pass lost millions of subscribers after last year’s price hikes. The latter saw price drops not so much to stop the bleeding, but to bring lapsed subscribers back into the fold. I can see these exclusives being a way to make the Series X/S look more valuable. Heck, have you seen how E-Day looks and what you’ll need to run it on PC? Whether this will actually spur people to buy Xbox consoles, especially since one exclusive isn’t enough (and neither is one other coming next year), is debatable, but the decision to not make this a one-off is appealing.

It also makes sense considering the approach to Project Helix, which can play both Xbox and PC games. If Microsoft follows through on that rumored multi-kit approach to Helix, offering a range of different price options for entry, then I could see this approach having some merit. And while there’s always the risk of lost sales from other platforms, Ball said this strategy is about “making an investment” in Xbox, even if some exclusives end up selling less overall.

All that is fine, but the communication around this so-called strategy has been chaotic at best, and haphazard at worst. I can get wanting to make an impact at your showcase, but then coming out afterwards without being able to fully explain why some games are exclusives and others aren’t comes across as amateurish. Headstrong and ambitious, sure, but still amateurish.

There’s also the fact that Xbox spent years and tens of millions of dollars to open up its first-party games and studios to other platforms only to backpedal. And hey, it’s not my money so no tears here, but what happens when those rumored Halo 2 and 3 remakes are announced? Does this mean that everyone playing Halo: Campaign Evolved will be left in the dust when the time comes? Could this be considered a trial run of sorts, to see how many will make the jump to Xbox or even PC with Game Pass?

Consistency is the key here, and Microsoft isn’t just asking for your patience and understanding – it also wants time to effectively undo everything it’s already taught you about its approach. You could say that was always the approach of Phil Spencer’s team, not Sharma’s, but all of the games showcased have been in the works for years now. It’s more like ordering specific dishes from your favorite restaurant, eagerly awaiting what’s next…only to be told it’s under some new management, and they’ve suddenly decided you can buy some but not others, even though some of the old management is still present.

And the worst part of all this is that XBOX’s efforts to insist this is the plan…when we already know it isn’t. “The plan is the plan until it isn’t the plan,” echoes Sharma’s words. How long before Microsoft throws its hands up in the air again and makes all these exclusives available on other consoles, whether fans like it or not? If it could change its stance so many times because there’s no overarching philosophy for the gaming division beyond the one charge, who’s to say it won’t do so again? Are we going to have a fresh generation with buyer’s remorse, who swear they’ll never trust XBOX again?

I don’t know, and while that’s exciting – again, in a morbid way – it’s also exhausting, especially if you’re a fan. We’ll see if XBOX’s ambitions ultimately win out, but for now, maybe dial back those plans to become the “number one gaming and entertainment company” by 2030 until you can accurately formulate a consistent strategy on one single thing, if nothing else.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.