Xbox console exclusives can include multiplayer games too

Xbox's new focus on exclusivity won't be limited to just singleplayer games, bringing to mind interesting questions about future games in the portfolio.

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Xbox is committed to exclusive content moving forward, and has announced plans to release at least one exclusive game a year on consoles and PC. The games will be different each time, and they obviously won't always be singleplayer-oriented, considering Gears of War E-Day is the first major console exclusive under this strategy and that game has a big online 6-player mode.

Even still, this needed to be reiterated by Xbox's chief content officer Matt Booty, who tells GamesRadar that there is no hard mandate that the exclusives have to be singleplayer-focused. While Gears of War E-Day has multiplayer, the exclusive planned for 2027, inXile's Clockwork Revolution, does not. "I wouldn't overly fixate on single-player. I think that's a good rule of thumb, but it certainly isn't something that's carved in stone," the Xbox CCO said.

"There are a lot of different games in our portfolio, and we have to think about how different games serve different purposes within it."

However, large live service titles--such as those with tens of millions of players--will remain multi-platform.

This is a bit of speculation, but what if 2028's exclusive game is Hideo Kojima's new game OD? This title is powered by the cloud, so exclusive in this sense would be "not on PlayStation," but this could be a key example of one such non-singleplayer game being added to the service. It's not been confirmed yet, but OD's proprietary Social Scream System is believed to be, well, a social system that facilitates some kind of interactive online/multiplayer functionality. Maybe Xbox is just being more careful about what it's saying?

There's also rumblings that some of Bethesda's new Fallout and/or Elder Scrolls games could go Xbox exclusive.

Yesterday, Bethesda announced it was working on four new Fallout games--Fallout 5, remasters for both Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, and a new game with Obsidian--as well as a progress update on The Elder Scrolls VI. The incoming press junket led to some interesting questions being posed to Todd Howard about exclusivity; Howard was outright asked if Fallout 5 and TESVI could somehow go Xbox exclusive, and he replied that it was too early to comment.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Question #1

What did Xbox’s chief content officer say about whether future exclusives must be singleplayer?

Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty said there is no hard mandate that exclusives have to be singleplayer, warning fans not to "overly fixate on single-player." He added that it is "a good rule of thumb, but it certainly isn't something that's carved in stone," and that the portfolio contains many different games that serve different purposes.

Answered

Question #2

Which upcoming Xbox exclusive mentioned in the article includes a major online multiplayer mode?

The article says Gears of War E-Day is a major console exclusive that includes a big online 6-player mode. It also notes that inXile's Clockwork Revolution, planned for 2027, does not include multiplayer.

Answered

Question #3

Is Xbox planning to make large live service titles platform-exclusive according to this article?

Click to reveal answer

Question #4

Which 2027 exclusive is cited as an example of a singleplayer-focused release?

The 2027 exclusive cited is inXile's Clockwork Revolution, which the article notes does not have multiplayer and is presented as a singleplayer-focused release.

Answered

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