Future Xbox Exclusivity Will Be 'Case-by-Case', PS5 Ports Will Be Revealed Alongside Release Dates (original) (raw)

In an interview with Gamertag Radio, Xbox boss Matt Booty has shed a little more light on Microsoft’s ever-changing approach to exclusivity.

In case you missed the news earlier today, the Redmond firm said both Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be console exclusives. The former, out on 6th October, was allegedly almost complete on PS5.

Asked directly about its approach moving forward, Booty said:

“Our big multiplayer games, our big live service games are going to continue to be multiplatform. If we’ve promised something to players already, we’re going to honour that promise, right? And then we’re going to make the right decision, not necessarily a fast decision going forward. When we announce a date, we want to announce the platforms. So it’s going to be case-by-case.”

The phrasing “case-by-case” may haunt PS5 owners, because it’s the same ambiguous terminology the platform holder used when it purchased third-party publishers Bethesda and Activision earlier in the generation.

While not every Xbox game has launched on Sony’s console, the vast majority have over the past 18 months or so.

Several new titles were announced day-and-date for the PS5 during today’s Xbox Showcase, including State of Decay 3, Senua, and Spyro: A Realm Beyond.

Confusingly, Booty explained that its “big multiplayer games [...] are going to continue to be multiplatform” – but does that not include Gears of War: E-Day?

I know single player is a big component of the third-person shooter franchise, but it also leans heavily into competitive online multiplayer and co-op. In fact, during the Gears of War Direct, a post-release roadmap for the title was revealed, pushing it into live service territory.

Meanwhile, games like Senua and Spyro: A Realm Beyond look traditionally single player to me, so how come they are coming to the PS5 while Clockwork Revolution isn’t? Neither of the aforementioned had been announced for any platform prior to today.

I suspect it’s going to take several more interviews before Microsoft gets its messaging straight, but it looks like moving forward we may not know which games are even planned for the PS5 until release dates are ready to be revealed.

In a lot of ways, folks, we’re going right back to square one here.

[source youtube.com, via resetera.com]