Following the release of Gears of War: E-Day, it looks like Xbox is looking at console exclusivity for future games. According to Windows Central, the company has sent out a survey to users asking questions about game exclusivity, with a focus on questions like how likely they would be to invest into the Xbox ecosystem for exclusives, be it timed or fully platform-exclusive.
Among the franchises mentioned in the survey are DOOM, The Elder Scrolls, Minecraft, Diablo, and Fallout. It even includes third-party games like Physint, which is being developed by Kojima Productions. Conspicuous by its absence is the Call of Duty series. However, exclusivity for the franchise is likely off the table considering all the regulatory hoops Microsoft had to jump through during its acquisition process for Activision Blizzard. The survey even poses the question of whether fans would be more interested in Xbox if every franchise except for Call of Duty became exclusive.
“Imagine it was announced that all future title releases from every Xbox-developed gaming franchise except Call of Duty will be console-exclusive to Xbox. For Minecraft only, existing titles would no longer be available for purchase on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles, and would not receive any new content updates. However, there is no impact to any of the existing titles or content you already own. Nothing changes on PC in this announcement.”
Gears of War: E-Day was confirmed to be Xbox-exclusive alongside InXile Entertainment’s RPG Clockwork Revolution. The company has even gone as far as to note that the two titles aren’t simply going to be timed exclusives. However, Xbox has also said that games already announced for a multiplatform release will not see any change in plans.
“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. 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.”
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has previously spoken about the possibility of the company going back to exclusive game releases. Back in June, she had also discussed how the company had to “reevaluate” its stance on Xbox exclusives so that it could walk the fine line between being “a great publisher” and working with third-party developers.
“It’s a tough topic. Look, we’re the number two publisher in the world, and in order to be a great publisher, you must have your games reach large audiences to play. At the same time, we’re increasingly becoming a platform, and in order to become a platform, you must have exclusive content and services. And so, we’re looking at that very closely.”
As for how this will play out in the long term, Sharma noted that the company plans to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis. The survey might indicate a bigger push towards exclusivity depending on fan sentiment. However, it is worth noting that the company likely has to carefully evaluate whether franchises like Fallout and Diablo are big enough to convince gamers to buy a new Xbox, leaving behind libraries they have built on PlayStation in the process.
