Xbox Strategist Says Console Exclusives are 'Not a One-Off' and to 'Expect a Reliable Pipeline' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 08 June 2026 / 1,594 Views
Xbox chief strategist officer Matthew Ball in an interview during The Game Business Live event revealed the two announced Xbox console exclusives - Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution - are "not a one-off."
"So I can tell you how we are thinking about it," said Ball (via VideoGamesChronicle). "We have an internal framework and strategy that we are using to approach exclusives on and off the platform.
"We announced yesterday that there were two titles, one coming this year, one coming next year. Doing two titles was important. We could have announced Clockwork was going to be exclusive later at the end of the year, when we got closer and closer to the 25th anniversary. We could have kicked off 2027 by talking about that as an exclusive.
"It was important for us to include two titles so that people understood this was not a one-off, it was not commemorative. We were not saying it’s our 25th anniversary, it’s Gears’ 20th anniversary, we’re returning to Xbox, here’s an exclusive. This is the start of a program.
"Players can expect a reliable pipeline that validates their historical investment in the Xbox platform, keeps them as Xbox players going forward. And everyone in the industry understands that exclusives are important to the growth and branding of that platform."
He reiterated that already announced games for PlayStation and Nintendo, as well as live service multiplayer games will remain multiplatform.
"We have a third bucket of titles, those titles that we have previously announced or previously committed with our partners, with players, with teams, that we’ve decided to maintain those commitments," said Ball.
Ball also discussed the new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently stating, "We are not in a healthy spot. The next 100 days is going to be about resetting the business."
"Asha has been clear that our business today is not healthy. She’s been clear that we are turning around the business," he said. "Every day we are going to come more and more outwards about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it. And the reason why I say that is, today I should give you a more comprehensive answer. Here are all the titles that players can expect this year, next year, and thereafter that are going to be exclusive.
"We know what those are going to be. We know how we’re going to make those decisions. We know how we’re going to be evaluated against those decisions. But what’s important there is that framework has to be external eventually.
"Everyone in this audience is an expert, an aficionado of the field, and I understand why they are saying we still don’t quite get it. We have to communicate that internally. We have to communicate that to our partners.
"But then most of all, at the end of the day, the average player, the average current Xbox player, and the player that we want but don’t have today, have to understand it very simply. And that’s where we’re going. We’re just not ready to do it yet."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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"Players can expect a reliable pipeline that validates their historical investment in the Xbox platform, keeps them as Xbox players going forward. And everyone in the industry understands that exclusives are important to the growth and branding of that platform."
It’s crazy to me how reasonable they can sound one moment, and then this is the same company that did exactly the opposite of this just one year ago.
This is a company that has been rudderless and flailing for a long time.
Almost completely different leadership now compared to then. This guy wasn't there last year, in fact Asha Sharma only announced hiring him like 2 weeks ago.
Totally true, and I think, illustrates the problem. Neither of them will be on this team in 10 years, probably not even in 5. This is just a gig for them.
Its pretty simple really. CEOs bring new and different strategies to suit their buisness model.
I love how Microsoft was trying come for Nintendo's title of being the most stubborn console maker of all time, and Nintendo was like we been this way before you even made your first console you got a lot to learn.
Microsoft opened up their bid to enter the console wars by flying to Kyoto and brandishing their checkbook.
Nintendo brass laughed them all the way out of Japan and back to Redmond.
A quarter century later, Xbox is still as clueless as ever.
What's the point when they already opened the floodgates lol only to control the water tricklin
Its a buisness, and buisnesses can change strategies to suit their visions.
People "We want Xbox to compete, we need competition"
The same people "How dare Xbox compete by doing what other companies do to compete"
Good... I think every platform should have 1st party experiences that are exclusive
3rd party games should be as multiplatform as possible...
Confusing strategy. I'll already sold my xbox series x. But I can play those games on PC anyway. If you want to sell a dedicated hardware. Develop exclusives, you can't play anywhere else. Xbox should have become a PC and that's it or stick to their Xbox Original/360 strategy.
¨Asha has been clear that our business today is not healthy. She’s been clear that we are turning around the business,"
Sounds like they need to talk about the real dirty numbers in next shareholder report.
