Comments by Xbox President Sarah Bond make it clear that exclusivity is an antiquated concept in the modern gaming atmosphere. Thus, this underpins Microsoft's gradual changeover to a multi-platform model. This statement was issued in video format during an interview conducted by Mashable in support of the launch of the new ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gadget.
Multiplatform Games
Bond made her case by describing how the industry and customers have transcended walled gardens. She cited data from the world's biggest franchises to illustrate this point.
"Like the biggest games in the world are available everywhere," Bond said. "You look at Call of Duty; you look at Minecraft; you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox. That's actually what's really driving community in gaming... For most people, the idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated."
Bond's assertion that a gamer nowadays wants to play and connect with friends no matter what device they have represents Microsoft's vision for the console, the PC, and cloud gaming.
Exclusivity: Microsoft's Changed Perspective
This view goes along with a profound change in Microsoft's strategy concerning exclusives. Gone are the days when the company used to fight for exclusivity over titles such as Ninja Gaiden and Lost Odyssey.
- 2016: All its first-party titles were released on Windows PC, thus widening the definition of Xbox ecosystem.
- February 2024: The company shook the industry by announcing its intention to launch titles such as Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush on rival consoles from Sony and Nintendo.
This push toward multiplatform continues with more titles in the years to come, including Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and DOOM: The Dark Ages. Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2 are other upcoming titles set to release simultaneously on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC.
A 'Console Wars'-Driven Strategy
Microsoft's transformation comes after the statement made by the company admitting in 2023 that "lost the console wars." In that view, Microsoft began making its games available on as many devices as possible, in a turn of focus from hardware dominance to software and services.
While these live-service games, as mentioned by Bond, are certainly aided by having a larger audience, Sony and Nintendo are still making commercial successes with single-player, non-live-service exclusives that move hardware. Sony, however, has begun slower implementation of porting its titles to PC.
The gaming industry's divergent strategies are now becoming observable, with Microsoft pushing an open, multi-device ecosystem while the others still milk their platform-determining exclusive contents.
