It looks like XBOX has changed its mind when it comes to putting all of its games everywhere. With the departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, the “Xbox Everywhere” message went out the window. As we surpass the first 100 days with Asha Sharma at the helm, we are seeing a decent amount of change. When it comes to rollbacks, it looks like XBOX is moving back to exclusivity with some of its games.
During this year’s XBOX Showcase, we saw that two titles will be exclusive to the Xbox consoles. Gears of War: E-Day, which was previously announced for PS5, and Clockwork Revolution. This is a part of XBOX’s new strategy of going back to its roots. In an interview with Gamertag Radio, Matt Booty stated that this will still be situational. The hope is that when a game’s release date is announced, you will also know what platforms you can play it on.
Some people are arguing whether this matters since all XBOX games will be going to PC day one. The reality is, a large number of gamers only play on consoles. Average consumers are starting to play on PC more every day, but it is far from the norm. Console prices have increased, but most PCs are still going to be twice the price in the current market. It is still in XBOX’s best interest to cater to both markets. Especially since PlayStation has such a large lead.
The part of this that really has me excited is where XBOX gets better with messaging. I would say that this has been a bigger issue than games being cross-platform. I am not sure if this is going to be a long-term change, but we can just sit back and watch. We have seen a good amount of small moves from Asha Sharma aimed at winning back the gamer. This is the first large move that has the potential to change public perception of the current XBOX.