Xbox President Says Exclusive Games Are ‘Antiquated’
For years, Xbox built its image around exclusive games, titles that defined its consoles and gave players a reason to pick Xbox over others. Franchises like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza were the core of the Xbox brand.
But now, that time seems to be fading. Little by little, Microsoft has been moving away from exclusives, choosing instead to make its games available on many different platforms.
Xbox’s Sarah Bond Calls Game Exclusives ‘Antiquated’ as Microsoft Shifts Strategy
Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox, recently stated that exclusive games are basically “antiquated”, a thing of the past, as the market is beginning to “evolve way past” this old tradition.
Bond’s comments clearly aligns with Microsoft’s strategic choices, as the company is gradually moving away from exclusive titles and instead releasing its games on multiple platforms.
Many of today’s most popular titles are multiplatform games, including most of the best-selling and most-played ones across consoles. This suggests that exclusives no longer carry the same importance they once did.
However, Microsoft is more willing to move beyond the old exclusivity model due to its broader multi platform approach, its smaller console market share, and its control over entire publishing groups with brands already established across different systems.
“The biggest games in the world are available everywhere,” Bond said in an interview with Mashable. “Look at Call of Duty, Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox… these are the games that truly drive the gaming community. That’s where people gather. The idea of locking it to one store or device is antiquated for most players.”
Regarding the titles she mentioned, Bond’s point of view is clear and reasonable. “You want to be able to play with your friends anywhere, regardless of what they’re on. And we’re really leaning into that with this experience,” she added, referring in particular to the ROG Xbox Ally X. “It just opens up another way for you to play — as does cloud, as does PC, as do the consoles that we all own and have in our living room.”
In other news, amid ongoing rumors about Microsoft leaving the console hardware market, the company has reaffirmed its commitment to next-gen Xbox consoles, with an AMD engineer confirming that development is “full steam ahead.”
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