Xbox Will Still Determine Console Exclusivity on a Case-by-Case Basis

The Xbox team revealed yesterday during its Xbox Games Showcase that the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Evolution won’t be coming to other consoles. This is part of the “return of Xbox” CEO Asha Sharma previously announced, and the new Xbox leadership team apparently realized that Xbox consoles do need exclusive games to be attractive to consumers.

In a post-Showcase interview with Gamertag Radio, Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty tried to clarify Microsoft’s approach towards Xbox exclusivity. “We want people to have a reason to get on board with Xbox, we want them to have a reason to buy an Xbox, a reason to be an Xbox fan,” Booty said. “At the same time, we want to reward all of our players who have been with us for a long time, we know that exclusives are important.”

However, Booty added that “our big multiplayer games and live-service games are going to continue to be multiplatform.” For some reason, that won’t apply to Gears of War: E-Day, which is a multiplayer game.

Ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase, it was actually reported that a PS5 version of the game had been rated in Europe. According to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grub, “there’s a basically finished version of Gears for PlayStation sitting on a drive.” However, the new Xbox leadership team apparently decided to cancel it very recently.

“If we promised something to players, we’re going to honor that promise,” Booty said. It’s true that Gears of War: E-Day had never been announced for PlayStation 5. But the Xbox team did the same with Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Circle of Light, and both titles were ultimately released on PS5.

If the PS5 version of Gears of War: E-Day was almost done, why cancel it at the last minute? I guess that Microsoft didn’t want to piss off the small pool of vocal hardcore Xbox fans, even though it completely makes sense to release a game with co-op and competitive multiplayer components like Gears of War: E-Day on other consoles.

As it turns out, Xbox’s new position regarding Xbox console exclusivity doesn’t differ much from how Xbox operated under the leadership of Phil Spencer: The team will still decide if first-party games should be exclusive on a case-by-case basis.

“Asha said we’re going to make the right decision, not the fast decision. We’re going to keep thinking about this going forward.” Booty said yesterday.