Gears of War: E-Day, Clockwork Revolution Not 'One-Off', More Xbox Exclusives on Their Way

Microsoft announced the return of exclusive games at the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, confirming that two of its upcoming first-party titles, Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, will be Xbox console exclusives. But more exclusive games on Xbox consoles are on their way. Xbox's new chief strategist has said that the recent announcements on exclusive titles weren't a “one-off.”

Noted industry analyst Matthew Ball, who joined Xbox as chief strategy officer in May, discussed the company's approach to exclusive games in an interview with The Game Business on Monday. When asked about Microsoft's exclusive strategy, the Xbox executive said the company was following an internal framework and strategy to decide which games would be Xbox console exclusives.

“We announced yesterday (at Xbox Games Showcase) that there were two titles, one coming this year, one coming next year,” Ball said. “Doing two titles was important. We could have announced Clockwork was going to be exclusive later at the end of the year, when we got closer and closer to the 25th anniversary. We could have kicked off 2027 by talking about that as an exclusive.

“It was important for us to include two titles so that people understood this was not a one-off, it was not commemorative. We were not saying it's our 25th anniversary, it's Gears' 20th anniversary, we're returning to Xbox, here's an exclusive. This is the start of a program,” Ball said during the interview. A clip of the interaction was shared on X by Summer Game Fest creator and producer, Geoff Keighley.

Ball added that Xbox was preparing “a reliable pipeline” of games that would validate players' long-term investment in the platform and said that exclusives were important for the “growth and branding” of the Xbox platform.

Large multiplayer live-service titles like Call of Duty will remain non-exclusive, Ball said. Xbox is also sticking to prior multiplatform commitments, such as in the case of Halo: Campaign Evolved, Fable, and Forza Horizon 6 — all of which are coming to PS5.

However, Ball declined to answer to a question about why newly announced Senua, the third game in the Hellblade series, was coming to PS5, as opposed to Clockwork Revolution, the upcoming title from inXile Entertainment, which was an Xbox console exclusive. “No further comment,” he said.

Senua was announced at Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday
Photo Credit: Microsoft/ Ninja Theory

Xbox's Exclusive Strategy

Xbox's strategy is currently in transition from its earlier pivot to essentially becoming a multiplatform publisher to bringing back exclusives for its own platform under the new leadership. However, the exclusive strategy remains inconsistent, and the way forward remains unclear.

In an interview with Gamertag Radio following the Xbox Games Showcase, Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty said the company would decide on exclusivity on a “case-by-case” basis. That decision, however, mirrors what former Xbox boss Phil Spencer said when the company initially decided to release some of its games on rival platforms in 2024. Eventually, the floodgates opened, and several Xbox first-party games launched on PS5.

It will be hard for Microsoft to ignore the profit of releasing games on other platforms, considering Xbox titles like Forza Horizon 5, Sea of Thieves, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered have sold well on PS5, generating millions in revenue. Forza Horizon 5 has sold well over 5 million copies on Sony's console.

This year, Microsoft will launch Forza Horizon 6 and Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5. Gears of War: E-Day, however, will launch only on PC and Xbox Series S/X on October 6.