Xbox Series X Won't Have Exclusive Games At Launch

Is Microsoft repeating its biggest mistake?

Halo Infinite Xbox Series X
Microsoft

The race to win the next-generation of gaming has well and truly kicked off, and it seems as though Microsoft and Sony have differing ideas about what a new console needs to offer players in 2020.

Discussing the Xbox Series X with Official Xbox Magazine, Microsoft's Matt Booty explained that the console won't have any console exclusives at launch, with the focus being on creating great games that function across the entire Xbox family.

It's a direct shift from what the company did in 2013, telling fans back then that if they didn't like the features of the Xbox One, they should stick with the 360. Explaining why the move to a shared platform of content was so important to their next-gen approach, Booty said:

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"I think we want people to feel comfortable investing in Xbox. And whether that means that this holiday you’re going to go buy an Xbox One S, or next fall you’re going to go buy a Scarlett – you’re going to feel comfortable either way. And that content library that you invest in is going to go forward, so that you don’t have to feel like you’re making a choice between generations, right? I think that’s important to us.

Microsoft's biggest mistake this decade has been the lack of great first-party titles for the Xbox One, but it has seen success in opening its console up to other platforms and embracing accessible gaming content with the Netflix-style Games Pass. Consequently, the company doesn't need exclusives to sell its machine, but simply great first-party games to sell its services, no matter which console you're playing them on.

In contrast, journalist Jason Schreier revealed on Kotaku's Splitscreen podcast that Sony will have PS5 exclusive games at launch, carrying on the tradition of tempting players to new machines via must-play killer apps.

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