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JRPGfan on 10 June 2026
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JRPGfan said:
Kyuu said:

Yeah if they wish to make their platform relevant in the long term, they're gonna need to take risks and have their software sales decline to a fraction in the short to medium term. But it's the only way save Xbox regardless. Gears going console exclusive isn't gonna do anything.

We know where Phil Spencer was on that question.

He was 100% for, going full Publisher, damn the hardware.
Actions speak louder than words.

Where Asha Sharma stands, is currently not known.... she doesn't seem like, to have committed to one or the other yet.
She knows xbox fans, think exclusives are important for console hardware (and to be fair, the proof is in the pudding).
So far she has taken 2 games and made them exclusive. She also made a few announced games for PlayStation, when she didn't have too.
It's hard to tell if shes really for one or the other, so far.  I think she is testing the water.... and seeing if she "see's" what Phil Spencer saw. 
Money talks.... she might years down the line, come to the same conclusion Phil did, depending on how the next gen turns out.

Phil gave up, trying to push hardware.
He was like "I cannot do both", I'll buy some more studios and convert xbox to a publisher instead, of a platform holder.



https://wccftech.com/xbox-future-exclusives-business-health/?brid=YWdncwEQmCsGU07FPqyCb_9FCVjM


"Xbox CEO Ties Future Exclusives to Business Health, Signaling a Possible Return to Multiplatform if Sales Slip"

^ name of the article.


You can read it yourselves, but the title basically gives all you need.

edit:

"Look, I think that we are the number two publisher in the world, and you want your games to be everywhere. You're stronger when the world plays with you. At the same time, we are 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 notice, or 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."

"Needless to say, Xbox fans immediately started to worry about what would happen if the business doesn't get much healthier in the near future. The most obvious answer would be a return to the full-on multiplatform strategy previously approved by now-retired CEO Phil Spencer."



I guess I wasn't far off with the "I think she is testing the water" thing I wrote a few days ago.
Granted this is just the quiet part, not said out loud, that goes along with the quote she actually did say.



If hardware sales don't go up, or enough xbox fans buy games..... the exclusives go away.
Seems reasonable tbh, I think most CEO or people in that position would do the same.

Last edited by JRPGfan - on 10 June 2026