Microsoft’s new Xbox chief is ‘reevaluating’ exclusive games

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma held an all-hands meeting this morning and laid out her strategy for a “return of Xbox” with employees. While rebranding Microsoft Gaming back to Xbox was part of the agenda, Sharma also revealed that Xbox is looking into “reevaluating” Xbox exclusive games and windowed releases of titles.

It’s a hot topic for Xbox fans, who were shocked when Microsoft decided to start porting games over to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, but there’s no firm commitment on a return to Xbox exclusives just yet. “Along the way, we will reevaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide,” says Sharma and Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty in a joint memo to employees today.

There’s no firm commitment because it will be difficult to reverse a decision to port games to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, largely because of the revenue that titles like Forza Horizon 5 have brought in. Microsoft could consider keeping its own first-party games exclusive to Xbox and PC for a set period of time, though. Forza Horizon 6 could be a good test of this approach, given it debuts on Xbox and PC first and PS5 later.

The joint memo also discusses Xbox’s “master plan” and about being “honest about where we are.” Microsoft’s new “north star” for Xbox progress is now daily active players, and the priorities are hardware, content, experiences, and services. You can read the full memo here.