XBOX First-Party Exclusives Will Be Evaluated Case by Case, says Matt Booty

If you are among the hardcore XBOX fans who upvoted the exclusives demand on the recently launched XBOX Player Voice forum, the company honored its promise at the XBOX Games Showcase 2026. XBOX yesterday revealed that Gears of War: E-Day (releasing October 6, 2026) and Clockwork Revolution (coming in 2027) will be XBOX console exclusives. Meaning, these two games are confirmed to not leave the XBOX ecosystem.

A more selective XBOX exclusive strategy is emerging

That being said, XBOX is still non-committal about its future exclusives plan, as it is still taking the usual case-by-case basis approach going forward. In an interview with Gamertag Radio following the showcase, XBOX’s Chief Content Officer Matt Booty addressed the company’s current thinking around exclusives.

“We want people to have a reason to get on board with XBOX, we want them to have a reason to buy an XBOX, a reason to be an XBOX fan,” Booty said. “We want to reward all of our players who have been with us for a long time, we know that exclusives are important.”

Those comments land differently in 2026 than they would have a few years ago. By now, Microsoft has launched multiple first-party games on different platforms, which makes XBOX fans wonder if every major XBOX release will eventually follow the same path. Well, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Interestingly, Booty also reiterated that XBOX’s larger multiplayer and live-service franchises will continue launching across multiple platforms.

Our big multiplayer games and live-service games are going to continue to be multiplatform.

That makes Gears of War: E-Day noteworthy. While the franchise has long featured co-op and competitive multiplayer, Microsoft is treating it as a console seller first.

Booty ultimately made it clear that future decisions around first-party exclusives won’t follow a single pattern. “Asha said we’re going to make the right decision, not the fast decision. We’re going to keep thinking about this going forward,” he said.

For now, at least, XBOX appears ready to remind players that some games still belong on XBOX first. What do you think about XBOX’s non-committal approach regarding exclusives? Let us know in the comments below.