Microsoft is making a dramatic U-turn on its strategy with Xbox.
Under the leadership of newly-appointed CEO Asha Sharma, who started her tenure by lambasting the price of Game Pass and subsequently lowering it, XBOX is bringing back exclusivity for some of the biggest single-player titles.
In a tacit admission that its experiment releasing its biggest first-party games, including stalwart XBOX franchises like Gears of War, Halo, and Forza, on rival consoles, like Sony PS5 and Nintendo Switch to reach more players, leadership will keep some of the biggest hits for its own players.
XBOX CEO Asha Sharma has acknowledged that the company's approach of releasing games across rival platforms failed to deliver the growth they'd hoped for. In a statement sent to all staff, the executive wrote: "While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected."
"As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history.
It's a massive change of direction for a company that had been pushing games to PlayStation and other platforms to reach more players. Although the company could see more gamers buying an Xbox to not only have access to these exclusive games, but also to get physical discs. PlayStation recently made the announcement to discontinue physical discs, which outraged gamers.
The first games to feel this shift on Xbox are Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, both of which will now skip PlayStation entirely. These titles will launch exclusively on Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC – meaning PS5 owners won't be able to play them at all.
The big question on everyone's mind is whether massive upcoming titles like The Elder Scrolls 6 will skip PlayStation entirely. It's a strictly single-player game, which fits the new exclusivity criteria perfectly.
Keeping such an enormous release from players with a Sony-branded console would be one of the boldest moves in XBOX history, potentially leaving hundreds of millions in revenue on the table. The franchise has generated over $3.4 billion during its run.
There are also whispers about the fate of remasters for Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas following the success of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered – could those skip PS5 too?
Whispers suggest the leadership team at Xbox is having these exact debates at the moment, so it could be some time before we find out the definitive list. It's possible the titles considered for exclusivity will be tweaked based on the success of Gears of War: E Day, which was switched to an XBOX console exclusive at the eleventh hour earlier this summer ahead of the XBOX showcase.
Other titles announced during that same keynote, led by Asha Sharma, are already locked-in for multiple platforms. First up, the hotly-anticipated new Fable is set to arrive on Sony PS5 in February 2027, while Forza Horizon 6 is still planned to release on PlayStation after its XBOX, though without a confirmed date.
The shift to console exclusives isn't just a limited window where these games are only available on XBOX — another common practice in the video game space. Microsoft looks set to make these exclusives permanent, so these aren't meant to ever be released on other consoles. PC gamers needn't worry, though, as Windows releases remain part of the broader Xbox ecosystem under Microsoft's umbrella.
The news also comes during an incredibly difficult period for the gaming giant, with around 3,200 jobs being cut across the Xbox division.
This week alone, 1,600 employees lost their jobs, with another 1,600 set to go over the next twelve months.
Additionally, five studios are leaving the Xbox business altogether, and several beloved developers have been hit hard. For instance, id Software, the team behind Doom, saw significant cuts, as did ZeniMax Online Studios, which makes The Elder Scrolls Online.
Obsidian Entertainment, known for its beloved RPGs, also suffered substantial layoffs.
