Xbox says Gears of War and Clockwork Revolution console exclusives ‘are not timed’

Xbox says its freshly announced console exclusives, Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, “are not timed exclusives”, suggesting there are no plans to bring them to PS5 in the future.

In a statement clarifying its stance, the platform holder said all previously announced multiplatform releases, like Halo: Campaign Evolved and Forza Horizon 6, will still proceed as planned.

“As part of our focus on the return of Xbox, we also announced that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will be Xbox console exclusives,” it said.

“These are not timed exclusives. Games already announced for multiplatform releases will stick to that plan – we’re committed to investing in and growing Xbox both on console and beyond.”

In recent years, Xbox console exclusives like Indiana Jones and Starfield have eventually been released for PS5 at a later date.

The announcement of new Xbox console exclusives follows Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stating that the Xbox platform “must have exclusive content and services.” A PS5 version of Gears of War: E-Day has also appeared on ratings sites, suggesting the decision to make it Xbox exclusive was made late.

Sharma wrote on social media following the Xbox Games Showcase: “We want people to choose Xbox because of great games and experiences. That also means giving you something that was made for Xbox.”

Earlier this week, speaking during a Bloomberg Live event, Sharma referred to her previous statement that Xbox would “re-evaluate its approach to exclusivity”.

“It’s a tough topic,” she said during the on-stage conversation. “Look, we’re the number two publisher in the world and in order to be a great publisher, you must have your games reach large audiences to play.

“At the same time, we’re increasingly becoming a platform, and in order to become a platform, you must have exclusive content and services. And so, we’re looking at that very closely.

“I think that we have to be very thoughtful about each title, on how we want to think about it, and learn from some similar cases in the industry, and that’s what we’re doing.”