With XBOX having recently announced that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be console-exclusive to its own platforms, fans are now looking forward to seeing whether the company announces more Xbox Series X/S-exclusive titles. According to division CEO Asha Sharma, however, these fans might have to wait a bit before XBOX can fully commit to console exclusives.
In an interview with Fortune, Sharma spoke about the company’s position as the world’s number two games publisher. She brought up the fact that these ambitions are at odds with XBOX becoming “more of a platform”, since that would require more exclusive content. Currently, however, Sharma said that its business “isn’t particularly healthy”, so it is essentially testing the waters with a couple of exclusive releases.
“Look, I think that we are the number two publisher in the world, and when you do that, you want your games to be everywhere,” she said. “You’re stronger when the world plays with you. At the same time, we’re increasingly becoming more of a platform, and it’s hard to find examples of platforms out there that don’t have exclusive services and content.”
“And so, this is a journey for us. Our business isn’t particularly healthy. So, we’re starting by introducing 1-2 signature exclusives. As the business gets healthy, we will look to try and do more.”
Strangely, her point about being the second-biggest publisher in the world is eerily similar to an earlier statement about releasing Xbox-exclusive games. During a Bloomberg Live event, she had spoken about the tightrope that the company had to walk when it came to being not only a platform owner, but also a publisher.
“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.” Of course, this statement came before the official confirmation of Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution being Xbox console-exclusive
As for XBOX’s plans, the division’s chief strategist, Matthew Ball, said earlier this week that this is just the beginning. He revealed that the company now has an internal framework and strategy it uses to decide which games should be exclusive, and which should be released on more platforms.
“It was important for us to include two titles so that people understood this was not a one-off; it was not commemorative,” he said, referring to Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. “We were not saying it’s our 25th anniversary, it’s Gears’ 20th anniversary, we’re returning to Xbox, here’s an exclusive. This is the start of a program.”
He also spoke about exclusive releases helping by ensuring that players who have bought into the XBOX hardware and software ecosystem find more value in their investments.
