After pursuing a successful multiplatform strategy, it came as a shock to learn that Xbox and Microsoft would be pivoting back to console exclusives, starting with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. Despite the company's current situation, which will lead to a total of 3,200 job cuts by July 2027, the company, according to Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, is still going to pursue console exclusive releases, following a strategic framework that may not be obvious to all Xbox players.
"I wouldn't overly fixate on single-player," Booty said in an interview with GamesRadar+. "I think that's a good rule of thumb, but it certainly isn't something that's carved in stone. We are the stewards of over 20 game franchises that have made a billion dollars in their lifetime. There are a lot of different games in our portfolio, and we have to think about how different games serve different purposes within it."
Which game gets picked to be an Xbox console exclusive, however, isn't a random decision, as the company has a "framework for these selections, including how we evaluate them." This is a strategy that may not be "obvious to all of our players," but that will be made clearer down the line.
Halo Studios' Strategy Is Similarly Clouded
As not every single-player game developed by an Xbox studio will necessarily be an Xbox console exclusive, there's a very good chance some heavy global hitters like The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5 will also make their way onto PlayStation 5 systems, as well as the Halo series, which is making its debut on a Sony console with Halo: Campaign Evolved. However, the future of the series is as difficult to understand as Xbox's exclusive strategy is, as Halo Studios reportedly doesn't have a single game in active development right now.
The news comes from insider Rebs Gaming, who has provided accurate information about the series over the past few months. According to the report, the original roadmap for 3 games in 3 years starting from Halo: Campaign Evolved, the first entry in the series powered by Unreal Engine 5, is no longer operational, as Project Ekur and a new single-player campaign have both been canceled.
With these two projects having been canceled, Rebs Gaming claims that no other game is in development, and that development teams are scrambling to make new concepts to get the development of a new game started. The status of the reported Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes also seems uncertain, as the studio is considering releasing DLC for Halo: Campaign Evolved instead.
Looking at everything that is going on at Xbox, it's undeniable that the company is going through its most challenging times yet. With many studio leaders also detesting Xbox Game Pass, which has been the core of the company's strategy for the past few years, it will definitely take more than a return to exclusives to win back both developers and players' goodwill to fix the damage years of mismanagement and a crazy acquisition spree have wrought.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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