In recent years, Microsoft Xbox has gradually changed its past console-exclusive strategy, beginning to bring some of its first-party exclusives to the two major competing platforms, PS5 and Nintendo Switch, giving players on other platforms a chance to play games that were originally exclusive to Xbox consoles. Titles such as Gears of War: Reloaded, Halo: Campaign Evolved, and Forza Horizon 6 have all been announced for PS5 one after another. However, this series of plans was officially declared terminated after Asha Sharma, the new CEO of the Xbox division, took office, and the Xbox team also began restoring its previous console-exclusive strategy, recently launching a brand-new Xbox console exclusive, Gears of War: E-Day. Now it appears that Microsoft may have begun evaluating further expansion of its exclusivity strategy and has started asking players for their views on multiple well-known IPs becoming Xbox console exclusives.
According to 《Windows CentralAccording to the website’s roundup report, they obtained a questionnaire that Xbox officially recently sent to some players. Many questions in this survey focused on players’ views on potential directions for Xbox’s exclusivity strategy, asking whether they would consider switching to Xbox consoles if “some games no longer appeared on other console platforms.” In the examples for this question, Microsoft mentioned Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Minecraft, and Diablo—titles currently owned by Microsoft but still frequently released on other platforms. Not only that, Hideo Kojima’s new title Physint, which recently became co-published by Xbox, was also mentioned.
In another question, Microsoft asked more directly what players’ reaction would be if all future new releases in game franchises developed by Xbox-owned studios became Xbox console exclusives. Interestingly, Microsoft also specifically excluded the Call of Duty series from this question.
As for Minecraft, the sandbox survival game that has been in development for nearly 20 years and has sold 300 million copies worldwide, Microsoft raised another possibility: delisting it entirely from PlayStation or Nintendo console platforms, with versions players have already purchased no longer receiving any subsequent updates. But as one might imagine, the feasibility of this scenario is extremely low, and it would absolutely spark unimaginably massive controversy among players. On the other hand, the survey also asked players for their views on the compromise strategy of “timed exclusivity,” in which some games launch first on Xbox consoles and then arrive on PlayStation or Nintendo platforms several months later.
It is worth noting that this questionnaire does not mean Microsoft has already decided to make well-known franchises such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls Xbox console exclusives; rather, it is still at the most basic evaluation stage. However, just before news of this questionnaire came to light, Asha Sharma was also asked whether The Elder Scrolls 6 would ultimately become an Xbox console exclusive, and she still gave a guarded response, which has made players pay even more attention to the direction of Xbox’s future exclusivity strategy.
Source: KOCPC Chinese