Xbox CEO States The Return Of Exclusive Games Will Depend On A 'Healthy' Business
Can Xbox rebuild itself as a place to play exclusive games?
"ColonelFancy" Mike Lind
6/10/20262 min read
Clockwork Revolution and Gears of War E-Day will stay on Xbox hardware
Previous commitments to ports will remain intact
Asha Sharma has received good favor among those who play Xbox, and in her first 100 days on the job, she has shown an adamant mentality to return the Xbox brand as a place to play. One of those has been the topic of exclusivity, which was highly speculated in a press release labeled We Are Xbox in late April. This was exhibited during the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 with the confirmation that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be exclusive to the Xbox platform.
These will certainly be interesting waters for Sharma to traverse. In an interview with Fortune, following the Showcase, the question was presented regarding the pivot back to a focus on exclusive games.
"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're 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."
The Xbox brand is in the midst of massive restructuring, after the previous leadership of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond seemed to lack a general direction or vision for what they wanted. Following the grandiose purchase of Activision Blizzard, the plan may have been to hope securing a top intellectual property like Call of Duty would net profits by roping it with Game Pass as a day one perk. The opposite has happened, as linking CoD onto the subscription service ended up costing millions of dollars in unit sales.
In 2025, the near 50% increased price in Game Pass Ultimate, jumping the cost from $19.99 to $29.99, led to a sharp decline in subscriptions. Official numbers weren't divulged, but slashing the cost of Ultimate down to $22 is a clear indicator that something needed to be addressed from Xbox higher-ups in order to pull subscribers back.
Currently, Xbox is remaining committed to following through on their partnership plans that involve the porting of games from Xbox Studios to multiplatform. It was noted that throughout the showcase, games marketed did not highlight Nintendo or Playstation during trailers. games like Senua, Halo: Combat Evolved Remake, and State of Decay 3 will make their to the PlayStation 5 next year. The new Fable will also make the jump.
The question now is, what and when will determine the good health of Xbox's business? While Sharma is very aggressive with her moves, and has shown a passion of listening to the player base, it may realistically be a good while before a heavy shift back towards Xbox exclusives can come to fruition.
SOURCE: Fortune
Senua (Ninja Theory) will come to the PS5 in 2027