Yes, exclusives matter far less than they used to. The US is not the world though. If the Xbox had more to offer it and Microsoft would act like they gave a damn about Japan they would be closer to the library they had on the 360 than they are now. This library this gen is vastly inferior. Phil Spencer might be downplaying marketshare now, but markethsare is what makes you more appealing to foreign developers. Sonys exclusives sell all around the world and the exclusives appeal to many people.  They wouldnt be outselling them by double. In fact the switch is going to prove that exlusives have the power to sell consoles. Again, perhaps not as well as having a vast multiplatform library, but giving people options gives a company more power.

No....exclusives amount fo first party income for a company and they help with increasing marketshare based on the consumers value of their internal offerings. The problem is that more people have chosen Sony as the primary platform and thus has resulted in Microsoft getting less sales for their exclusives and thus downplaying the concept of exclusives. Sony gets more because they give more, quite simply. The culture of multiplayer only gaming is hurting the Xbox single player games sales (for variety and overall health) for that reason. Outside of Halo and Gears im not sure any one of those three exclusives Spencer just paid for with most likely arrive next gen or the very end of this gen. If you look at the dismal yearly sales of XBox this year and why Microsoft is not talking about their sales after their Xbox One X Boost in november, that might be all they have in the tank until their only two heavy hitters come once more. One wouuld also assume that most who have an Xbox already bought one for Gears and Halo as well which means Xbox needs more heavy hitting content. You see....God of War at its height sold the most for the hack n slash subgenre of action/adventure games. Those who want God of War or even Spiderman will pick up an Playstation for those games (and it will reflect in their monthly sales). 

Exclusives might not be the bottom line for Microsoft because they arent particularly good at making them. Sony and Nintendo however....they hold up tradition in the console realm, which is why when people question where single player exclusives are going....they increased consumer confidence  as Microsofts competition.

I love exclusives myself. It gives a console a identity. If a console doesn’t have a nice variety of exclusives, there’s really nothing unique to set it apart from the competition.

But both are great. Games are supposed to be fun. But it would be nice if Microsoft had more first party offerings.

The bigger problem might be there wasn't some sort of big AAA action game. I mean Halo Wars 2, Cuphead, and Forza 7 is notable content, but a tentpole action game just isn't there and popular among the Xbox audience. I mean that's the style of games that keep getting bundled with Xbox, AC:Origins, Shadow of War, etc.

Last year X1 had Gears 4 and Quantum Break. But nothing like that this year. Unfortunately, Crackdown 3 couldn't fill that void and is downplayed for modest visuals. Xbox having at least one notable action game a year would change the perception some.

One generation defining exclusive would do the trick. 

And yet people were already picking PS4 over Xbone in droves long before this narrative of no exclusives started in 2017. We've had this conversation before and I've given you the numbers before, entering 2017 their wasn't a vast difference in exclusives Sony/MS made for their console. Furthermore you look at software sales for these super important exclusives and with a vast majority of them, they just aren't there. Then you look at something like the WiiU, which had more quality exclusives than PS4 and Xbone combined while it was around... it not only lost in console sales but it got trounced.

Has nothing to do with downplaying anything. It's very apparent MS simply doesn't care to cultivate a stable of exclusives the likes of which we see with Nintendo, or to a much lesser extent Sony. This is the console warz mentality creeping in to your post. And no one is saying they make no difference, just that the effect isn't nearly as big as people such as yourself make it seem :)

Well, maybe this is part of the reason why "people were already picking PS4 over Xbone in droves."

Didn't affect them last gen. And if exclusives were that important we wouldn't have a Switch because the WiiU would be a great selling console :)

Exclusive were and always have been important.  Without exclusives the WiiU would have been worse off, and it helps Nintendo overall as a console maker.  It's not just about separate console generations.  It's about the image of the console company as a whole and the expectancy of the consumer.

Ummmm....  Those are not exclusives...  All are on PC.