Xbox is a very confusing company these days. We have no idea what her plans are for the future, and judging by the latest marketing campaigns and pricing, you'd be forgiven for thinking she doesn't either. Despite this, we've been assured that Xbox plans to release a next-gen system alongside the PlayStation 6 (even if it could cost an arm and a leg), and that it seems determined to make all of its long-standing exclusives playable on as many platforms as possible.
Xbox's approach to exclusivity has been criticized by developers and fans alike over the past year, with series like Forza Horizon, Gears of War and possibly Halo debuting on PlayStation. It's a strategy that has somewhat paid off for Xbox, with its games regularly becoming bestsellers on the PS5, but we still don't really know what Xbox's stance on exclusivity is and what its plans are for the future.
Fortunately, a recent interview with Xbox President Sarah Bond gave us another look at some of the thinking going on at the company right now, and if you were still hoping that Xbox could somehow release some high-quality exclusives in the future, I've got bad news for you.
Xbox thinks exclusives are 'obsolete' thanks to Fortnite and Roblox
“We're really seeing people come a long way,” says Bond. “The biggest games in the world are available everywhere. You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox — that's really what drives the gaming community. That's where people gather, have experiences, and the idea of being locked into one store or one device is outdated for most people.”
It's a bit of an odd argument, especially when you consider that the role of exclusivity was never really about getting millions and millions of players. PlayStation and Nintendo have used exclusives to sell their consoles over the years, with games like Astro Bot and Donkey Kong Bananza showcasing the technology and type of experiences you can have on their systems and no other.
Xbox owns Call of Duty and Minecraft and making them available on all platforms just makes sense, but giving up exclusives like Halo and Gears of War – which will never really set the world on fire – devalues the platform a bit and makes it less attractive. No one will buy an Xbox if you can buy Xbox games and PlayStation exclusive on PlayStation.
- Mark
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Microsoft
- Original release date
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November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
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499 dollars
- Operating system
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Proprietary (Windows based)
- Processor
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Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
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720p – 4K UHD
