New Xbox CEO Looking At ‘Each Title’ For Exclusivity, Back To Where It Started

InnovationGamingNew Xbox CEO Looking At ‘Each Title’ For Exclusivity, Back To Where It StartedByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorJun 05, 2026, 09:37am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Elder Scrolls VIBethesdaIn a new interview with new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, she was pressed on what the plan was for one of the hardest challenges facing Xbox, and what has upset its fans the most: the concept of exclusivity of Xbox games.What’s happened in recent years is that Xbox has brought loads of its big games directly to its competitor, PlayStation, whether that’s years or months later, or, increasingly, launching them day one beside the Xbox release. That has cratered the “identity” of Xbox among fans, as the question becomes, “How is Microsoft not just a third-party developer that makes hardware?”Sharma told Bloomberg the current line of thinking:“We're increasingly becoming a platform. In order to be a platform, you must have exclusive content and services. 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 similar cases in the industry, and that’s what we’re doing.”The problem here is that this is pretty much where Microsoft is now. Sony, for its other issues, has a pretty clear release strategy in place. PS5 gets all its big, first-party single-player games (it seems they’re about to pull them of PC, as well). Sony will release its multiplayer games on PC as well as PS5. With rare exceptions (Bungie’s Marathon, for one), nothing goes to Xbox.Play Puzzles & Games on ForbesFEATURED | Frase ByForbes™Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The PhrasePlay NowPinpoint By LinkedinGuess The CategoryPlay NowQueens By LinkedinCrown Each RegionPlay NowCr...