‘We’re seeing people evolve way past that’: Xbox’s Sarah Bond says the idea of exclusives is outdated
Xbox has made it clear that all of its games could potentially be ported to other platforms
Xbox president Sarah Bond has reiterated its multiformat focus by saying the idea of exclusives has become “antiquated”.
In an interview with Mashable, Bond was asked where “blockbuster exclusives” fit into the company’s plans, given that a growing number of Xbox Game Studios are seeing releases on other platforms.
Bond explained that, in Xbox’s view, the idea of games being exclusive to a single platform has become outdated, and players now expect games to be available on multiple devices.
“We’re really seeing people evolve way past that,” she said. “Like, the biggest games in the world are available everywhere. You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox.
That’s actually what’s really driving community in gaming. That’s where people gather, they have experiences. And the idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated for most people.
“You want to be able to play with your friends anywhere, regardless of what they’re on, and we’re really leaning into that with this experience because it just opens up another way for you to play – as does cloud, as does PC, as do the consoles that we all own and have in our living room.”
Xbox’s shift in focus to multiformat started in early 2024, when it announced that it was bringing Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves and Grounded to PlayStation consoles.
In April 2024, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that Xbox was starting to reap the rewards of its multiplatform strategy, noting that earlier that month Xbox had more games among the PlayStation Store’s 25 best-selling titles than Sony did.
Since then, numerous other former Xbox console exclusives have made their way over to PlayStation, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded.
Xbox’s plans appear to be going both ways, with Bond saying in the same interview that the next Xbox console will share “some of the thinking” behind the recently released Asus ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, which let players access not only the Xbox PC store but also other digital PC storefronts like Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG.
