Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has publicly addressed the on-going decision-making process regarding exclusives. Speaking with Bloomberg, Sharma stated that Xbox is trying to balance being a successful video game publisher while also building its own platform, two business models that could be at odds with each other.
“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,” said Sharma. “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. I think that we have to be very thoughtful about each title, on how we want to think about it, and learn from some similar cases in the industry, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Ultimately, it sounds like, although decisions are still being made with how Xbox approaches exclusivity, it may continue to evaluate games on a case by case basis. For years, it seemed clear that, while something like Call of Duty will exist on all platforms, something like Halo would remain exclusive to Xbox. That is, until Xbox announced it was bringing Halo: Campaign Evolved to PS5
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This has created a lot of confusion over where Xbox stands with exclusives. To many, Halo coming to other platforms felt like the end of exclusivity, as it was Xbox’s most defining franchise. Xbox also confirmed Fable would be coming to PS5 at launch, signaling a major strategy change. It has also been speculated that Gears of War: E-Day will come to PS5, but nothing has been confirmed.
However, all of this was before Asha Sharma took over as head of Xbox. Since then, she has indicated that Xbox will be making big changes to try and get the company back on track. Although many of the things being shown at Xbox’s upcoming showcase have probably been in the works long before Sharma was even in consideration for the job, it will be her first moment to properly outline her vision for the company’s future, and that likely includes defining some exclusive titles.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
