In light of recent confirmation that Gears of War: E-Day is only coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S, skipping a PS5 release altogether, the company may have made this exclusivity decision was quite recently. In a trailer showcased during the Xbox Podcast’s deep dive on Gears of War: E-Day, eagle-eyed fans noticed that the PS5 logo was still visible. This trailer was seemingly used accidentally, however, and the podcast video has since been edited to remove the PS5 logo.
In a statement to VGC, XBOX’s head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg, has denied that the decision to make Gears of War: E-Day console-exclusive to Xbox Series X/S was made at the last minute. Rather, he said that knowledge about the title’s exclusivity was kept limited to a small internal group.
“I can confirm this is not true,” Greenberg said. “We just limited the knowledge of this news to a very small internal group. The intention was to share this news first with our players and everyone watching the showcase.”
When it comes to console-exclusives, XBOX’s new chief strategist, Matthew Ball, has said that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution just mark the beginning for the company. During a recent talk, he revealed that the company has an internal framework and strategy that it is using to decide which future games will be exclusive to XBOX consoles, and which will get multiplatform releases. The ultimate decision to feature more exclusive, he explained, came down to the fact that the company wants to ensure the growth of its brand and validate the investments that XBOX fans have made into the consoles and ecosystem.
“Players can expect a reliable pipeline that validates their historical investment in the Xbox platform, keeps them as Xbox players going forward,” he said. “And everyone in the industry understands that exclusives are important to the growth and branding of that platform.”
However, it looks like the company might want to keep its audience net wider for games that focus more heavily on multiplayer. Along with this, Greenberg has also noted that games that already got announced for more platforms will come to those platforms, likely referring to Fable and Halo: Campaign Evolved, both of which are slated for release on PS5 as well.
“We have a third bucket of titles, those titles that we have previously announced or previously committed with our partners, with players, with teams, that we’ve decided to maintain those commitments,” he explained.
Microsoft had confirmed that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution would be console-exclusive earlier this week, noting that it is part of its wider attempts to “return to XBOX”.
“As part of our focus on the return of Xbox, we also announced that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be Xbox console exclusives,” said the company. “These are not timed exclusives. Games already announced for multiplatform releases will stick to that plan – we’re committed to investing in and growing Xbox both on console and beyond.”
Gears of War: E-Day is coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S on October 6th.
