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Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty said that console exclusives should be a “reward” for players who have invested their long-term support and prospective users looking to justify purchasing a Microsoft console. As of this writing, only two first-party Xbox titles have been announced as console exclusive to the Xbox Series X/S lineup.
Booty's comments came amid a global restructure at Xbox. In early July, Xbox conducted a major round of layoffs that saw 1,600 jobs cut and studios such as Double Fine and Compulsion Games go independent. In a letter to Xbox staff members, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said that the business at Xbox was not in a good place and stated that things needed to change. Sharma's letter came weeks after the June 2026 Xbox Games Showcase, which revealed that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution would be Xbox Series X/S console exclusives upon release.
Xbox Console Exclusivity Remains a Fluid Situation
Although Booty previously stated that Xbox console exclusives would be on a case-by-case basis, he said that gamers should not focus too much on one aspect. In a GamesRadar+ interview that was conducted following the Xbox Games Showcase, Booty said, "There has to be a reason for people to buy an Xbox." While Xbox already confirmed that live-service games will remain multiplatform, Booty said that single-player games being console exclusive to Xbox is not an absolute. However, Booty acknowledged that it is a "good rule of thumb" for players to bear in mind, while reassuring that there will be more than two Xbox-exclusive games. Booty said that, given Xbox's portfolio of over 20 gaming franchises that have earned over a billion dollars in revenue each, Xbox Game Studios must carefully consider what to make a console exclusive.
Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball followed up on Booty's statement and said that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution would also be permanent Xbox console exclusives. Ergo, neither title will appear on PS5 at all. Ball added that Xbox had no plans to stray from its current course and said that users had more first-party console exclusives from Xbox Game Studios to look forward to. On the other hand, Xbox still has some major releases planned for the PS5 throughout 2026. These include a day-one launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved on July 28 and a port of the critically-acclaimed Forza Horizon 6 later in the year. Halo: Campaign Evolved went gold on July 13, nearly two weeks ahead of release.
Given that Xbox's portfolio currently includes major studios under Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, Booty said it's up to Xbox to make its decisions clearer to users. Despite the choices made by Xbox so far, some high-profile projects like The Elder Scrolls 6 have not yet been confirmed to be console-exclusive. Given that The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises have been multiplatform for over two decades, time will tell what decisions Microsoft will make.
However, Booty reassured Xbox fans by confirming that, when an Xbox Games Studios project gets a release date, the platforms that the game will be available on will be revealed at that point. With Xbox's Project Helix console still in development, it remains to be seen which of Microsoft's IPs will be used to entice gamers into buying a next-gen Xbox console.
