Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week, you'll know that after weeks of anticipation and pleading from fans, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma appeared during the Xbox Showcase to reveal that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are now Xbox console exclusives.
With exclusives officially back on the menu, Sharma also offered some insight into the decision during an interview with Fortune Conversations. She laid out exactly why Xbox is changing course, so let's take a look at what she was asked and how she responded.
During the interview, Sharma was asked the following:
“Previous Xbox leaders took exclusivity off the table. It seems like after Showcase it's back on. Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War E-Day, both exclusives. What led to the pivot?”
To which Sharma responded:
“Look, I think that we are the number two publisher in the world, and when you do that, you want your games to be everywhere. You're stronger when the world plays with you.
At the same time, we are increasingly becoming more of a platform, and it's hard to find examples of platforms out there that don't have exclusive services and content.
And so this is a journey for us. Our business isn't particularly healthy, as you noted, and so we're starting by introducing one to two signature exclusives, and as the business is healthy, we will look to try and do more.”
Sharma was also asked what she wanted Xbox's showcase to demonstrate about the future of Xbox, to which she stated:
“I wanted to preserve great games, I wanted to be about the return of Xbox, and I wanted to talk about the future of play, and so it was only fitting that my first showcase we got to really do that, and we had a lot of great games.
We had the return of Xbox with the reintroduction of two new exclusives, as well as a new special edition 25th anniversary console, and it was just such a wonderful environment to bring everybody together.”
It's clear that exclusives are a major part of Xbox's current strategy. While Sharma stopped short of confirming additional exclusives beyond Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, she did suggest Xbox would "look to try and do more" if the company's business becomes healthier.
Personally, I'd like to see Xbox get its hands dirty again. It's no secret that Sony has spent years securing content and marketing deals that keep certain games away from Xbox players, and by all accounts, Xbox has the resources to push back if it chooses to do so.
With that said, I'll leave you with another quote from Sharma that may offer the clearest indication yet of where Xbox believes it is headed:
"We've had a great 100 days; we've begun to revive Xbox, and the next 100 days is about resetting Xbox."
Let me know if, like me, you're excited about the next 100 days of Xbox, or maybe you're not excited at all. Either way, let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll below:
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