Xbox Admits That Its New Approach To Exclusives Is Confusing

Xbox Confirms More "Permanent" Exclusives Are Coming, But Its Explanation Just Makes Things More Confusing Published Jul 19, 2026, 1:17 PM EDT George is the Lead News Editor for TheGamer, and has been working in the industry since 2021 after graduating from the University of South Wales with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. He has also previously written for RPG Site, WhatCulture, and PlayStation Lifestyle. George is an expert on platformers, action games, and fighters, but tends to play as many releases as possible. This hands-on experience lets him dive into gaming communities and follow the latest trends. Some of the games George has extensively covered first-hand include Dead Rising, Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Ninja Gaiden 4. Sign in to your TheGamer account Xbox’s chief strategy officer has confirmed that more “permanent” exclusives are coming to the platform, while offering an explanation that doesn’t really clear things up much. Ever since Asha Sharma became Xbox’s CEO and made it clear that she was listening to fans (for better and worse), it’s seemed inevitable that the company was quickly trying to move back to exclusives. Considering Xbox’s undeniably profitable move to third-party releases started just two years ago, it was anyone’s guess how that would happen. Instead of being saved for a gargantuan release like The Elder Scrolls 6 or even the next Halo, Xbox’s exclusive strategy was confirmed to start with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. It’s been a little unclear what the long-term future of exclusives looks like, and some recent comments haven’t helped much. More “Permanent” Exclusives Are Coming To Xbox, But Don’t “Fixate” On Single-Player At Least Xbox Knows The Strategy Isn’t Clear Yesterday, GamesRadar+ published an interview with Xbox’s chief content officer Matt Booty and chief strategy officer Matthew Ball about the company’s return to exclusives. Ball starts by debunking the claims that even Xbox staff were surprised by the move, noting that the decision was made “very early” on by new CEO Asha Sharma. Booty confirms that exclusives are here to stay, as people need a reason to buy an Xbox, and that they act as a “reward” for supporters. It was also reconfirmed that E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are not timed exclusives and are instead “permanent ones” that will be joined by other titles in the future. As Ball puts it, “These are not going to be the only two titles”. As for what games could become exclusives, this is where things get confusing. Gears and Clockwork suggest it’s single-player games that will be exclusive, but Booty says not to “overly fixate” on that, since it’s not guaranteed. Booty claims that the team has to think about how “different games serve different purposes”, which doesn’t really say anything. If your head is hurting a little bit, you’re not alone. At the very least, Ball acknowledged that the “framework for these selections” isn’t obvious to players, and that the team is “committed to making this clearer”. For now, though, we're just going to have to wait and see what Xbox has planned for some of its future releases. From the sounds of it, though, Xbox might be hesitant to say all single-player games are exclusives when something like The Elder Scrolls can reach such massive audiences on all consoles, while something like Gears and the next Halo are more quintessentially Xbox. That’s just a guess, but it's the best we've got for now. Gears of War: E-Day Systems Released October 6, 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact Developer(s) The Coalition Publisher(s) Xbox Game Studios Engine Unreal Engine 5 Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter, Action, Adventure, Horror