But being like that on exclusives may be impossible - unless they do row back and go fully exclusive or have set rules like only Activision games or live service go to PlayStation, the truth is likely to be complicated.
Some games they may want to keep exclusive, others they might not have the resource to port till later and some games may be multi-platform from the start - Activision for example but plus Hellblade 3 likely given the original was everywhere.
Case by case was an easy way to explain a difficult topic - having simple messaging that anyone can understand is close to impossible unless itās all or nothing, which isnāt possible due to for example the 10 year CoD agreement
Donāt forget all the Xbox game studio acquisitions in 2018/2019. Plus going further back Phil stabilized Gen 8 with the One S and One X. And introduced Game Pass as a value leader in gaming. And expanded Xbox to PC and introduced Xbox Play Anywhere.
The prior leadership had a great run. They peaked and ended by finishing the major integration for ABK and paving the way for Helix and beyond. The entire industry got rocky, but weāre not in a situation like where Don left Xbox a burning ship and Phil had to practically build a new one (Xbox barely had any first party studios until those XGS aquistions). Thatās great Sharma can execute and build upon a strong foundation left behind.
We donāt know what the final decision would be. I know case by case is not exactly a wrong answer, but itās not as simple as one wants. If anything I learned from my job, simple is all they want. They can flat out say, āBethesda games will be exclusive. CoD will remain multiplatform.ā There, end of story.
If they acquire a new studio or say something Ubisoft, she can have the opportunity to tell you flat out from the beginning instead of case by case. Thatās what people want. But again, we can only speculate.
Iām surprised at that read of it because to me she just said āCase by caseā in more words and kinda a non answer. I mean the full quote is, āAlong the way, we will reevaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide.ā That doesnāt really say anything. Theyāll look at the data and make decisions in real time without tying themselves to any promise. I mean the āItās just these four games for now.ā was basically that or when Phil said thereās no red lines. He made it clear that theyāll learn and decide whatās best for each game. Which is the same kinda, āWeāll tell you when weāve figured it out.ā If anything the more recent quote is dancing around the issue even more.
Yeah itās really unfortunate. Itās crazy for anyone to look at the past two years and say, āPhil killed Xbox.ā When 10 years ago Xbox had almost no studios, no value differeniatiors (or barely any as they were just getting started with play anywhere and game pass), and was missing a lot (way too much) major third party support (especially from japanese publishers). Weāve gone from that to Xbox having such a strong relationship with Sega and RGG that weāre looking forward to āXbox Presents: a new RGG IPā. Weāve gone from less than 10 studios to nearly 40. Thereās been a lot of growth.
As Iāve mentioned before Iāve seen this leadership playbook so Iām a little more cynical, but I am finding some online reaction over the top even ignoring my cynicism.
Some are really enjoying sticking the boot into the past leadership (who letās remember inherited a chaotic situation after the terrible One launch) and in particular thereās some toxic vitriol around Sarah Bond where they seem to target her for everything bad rather than Phil, often in terms and vehemence that feels almost personal and way too far.
At the same time, Asha is being worshipped as a saint that will lead Xbox to a new world order where we have total exclusivity again and dominate PlayStation - with every tiny statement or action blown out of proportion to be something amazingly wonderful.
Yes itās a good start, but having a weird personality cult around a leader until weāve actually seen the new strategic direction is premature (and a little creepy even then) - thereās positives to be seen, but just like with all leaders thereās quick wins and easy rhetoric to get everyone on board, then thereās the real aspect of running the business after the honeymoon phase where they have to decide what to invest in, what strategy works (which may not fit with what people want it to be) and what the plan is and how to market it.
Iāve no doubt Asha will be very good at the planning and marketing, but her strategy may depend on things outside her control or have to be influenced by whatās best for Xbox - which may not be exactly what the hardcore gamer base wants.
So maybe give it time - itās a great start but letās be fair to the previous leadership and letās wait and see what the actual strategic level changes areā¦
She does have a nice path to keep the hype train going. FH6, summer showcase, Gears, Fable, Helix. If all of those games hit and 2027 is a Helix blowout, it could really keep the positive momentum going.
But even publisher level may not be that easy - Bethesda online games for example might be better going everywhere, and ES6 may be so big and expensive to make it needs to go everywhere to make back its costs.
By setting hard rules on such things you paint yourself into a corner - like Xbox did with first party games Day 1 which theyāve now backed off for CoD, proving these things arenāt quite that simple.
Yes simple slogans market well, but honestly no one outside the core gamer world likely cares too much about the exclusivity rules, they just wait for release dates - instead brand awareness and marketing are likely more important.
90% of PS4 owners didnāt buy their biggest exclusive, and PS5 thatās looking even worse with them producing so few - instead most owners play games available on all systems, where what their friends have, what theyāre used to and marketing make their console pick instead.
That last one has been a weakness of Xbox since Halo 3, so that maybe is where Ashaās impact can most be felt
Yep we could be seeing an awesome few years - I just wish people could enjoy the ride, reserve some judgement (as some on social media seem like theyād propose on a first date lol) and learn they can appreciate the new focus without needing to denigrate the prior administration
I donāt think they can keep COD out forever. Way, I see it if Game Pass begins to take off again there is a good chance people might not even care about COD anymore. People keep behaving as if COD has always done numbers and will always do. Letās not also forget the best ever selling COD was BO6 in Game Pass. Game sales have flat lined and subscription is whatās moving today even Asha said it in the post. To me Xbox health will depend in large on Game Pass especially now that she has said their north star will be daily active players not game sales.
I concur.
Nah they have definitely given her more leeway than the old guard, which is a good thing. At court Phil Spencer pretty much affirmed exclusivity on everything except COD. Then Satya and Amy bounded him with 30% profit delivery so much it crippled the business because they could no longer take losses on anything from console down to games. Then Asha comes in and the 30% is gone and she is now saying where things are slow, they will go into M&A which sounds like they opened the check book to her while closing it to the old guards and telling them to go look for resources on their own.
I like some of the things Asha is saying but she is able to do all this because of Satyaās backing. Jez even talked about Amy Hood maybe leaving.
Lol whenever CoD starts to suffer in numbers, they grab the Diablo team, go sacrifice an intern at the basement altar of Activision then make Infinity Ward go back to basics to get everyone back playing it
Maybe, I just think game sales have been very disappointing, and I donāt think COD is that hot anymore, certainly not that hot on PC. I certainly donāt think Iāll be buying COD anymore I will not help them make it a game too big for Gamepass. If their north star is daily active numbers how will COD rank.
āWeāll take a data-driven approach and a strategic-driven approach, and then weāll look at our principles and weāll make some calls...I want to make the right decision, not the fastest decision."
She also said itās a decision that can have an effect for a decade and basically seems like itāll be case by case.
Exactly what the previous lot saidā¦
" As for those hottest of topics, Sharma and Booty had no additional info to share with me about exclusivity . No calls made yet. Choices around Xboxās approach to exclusive games are ālong-swinging decisions that have decade-long impact,ā Sharma said.
āWeāll take a data-driven approach and a strategic-driven approach, and then weāll look at our principles and weāll make some calls. So weāll share more when weāre ready,ā she said.
I specifically asked if they had a timeframe for making a decision. āNothing weāre ready to commit to,ā she said, pointing out that she was in her role for only about 60 days.
She wasnāt going to rush it: āI want to make the right decision, not the fastest decision.ā"
Xbox chief Asha Sharma also mentioned during her all-hands yesterday that the teams are meeting daily on Project Helix, and that there will also be biweekly Xbox Series S/X console updates until end of the year. The reinvestment in Xbox OS is very interesting.
Yeah this is back to case by case basis. But this is still a shift because only a few months ago, Xbox was all in on multiplat.
The data so far is mixed: Sea of Thieves and Forza have done really well on Playstation. But then you have Gears which was much more muted.
I think a lot is riding on the rest of the year as big franchises will be launching day and date. If they sell really well, I think nothing changes but if the sales are softer than expected I reckon plans will start changing.