We spoke to three Xbox Game Studio teams about exclusivity, and got two very different answers | Tech Radar
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We spoke to three Xbox Game Studio teams about exclusivity, and got two very different answers
Teams are either all-in on exclusivity, or looking forward to releasing on other platforms
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Gears of War: E-Day creative director Matt Searcy says the game "makes a lot of sense" as an Xbox exclusive
He confirms that The Coalition "never talked about this coming to PS5"
Meanwhile, two developers for Halo: Campaign Evolved and Fable are "excited" about branching out to multiple platforms
Xbox games coming to other platforms has been an intriguing concept and process to witness from the outside. There have been ebbs and flows, reports of this and that, and recently an interesting move back to console exclusivity for two titles, as per that recent Xbox Games Showcase earlier in June.
We had the chance to speak to multiple Xbox Game Studios teams at an event adjacent to this year's Summer Game Fest 2026 after the showcase had streamed and found that there was a stark difference of opinion between some of the developers on being an Xbox exclusive or embracing being on multiple rival platforms.
For example, the Coalition creative director Matt Searcy believes making Gears of War: E-Day an Xbox exclusive was the best decision — something not all Xbox Game Studios teams are aligned on.
According to Searcy, it feels right in the case of Gears of War, and the studio never talked about it going to other platforms. "Well, we never talked about it going to PS5; it was announced as an [Xbox] exclusive," Searcy said. "I would say that Gears as an exclusive makes a ton of sense to me, thinking about how tightly [...] Gears has been tied to the Xbox brand [for] its entire life."
He went on to say that, "It's kind of an honor, and I think excitement to be like one of the best Xbox flagship titles. As a developer, of course, it's awesome to have people play our games, but we're Xbox fans."
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When asked about missing out on a potential player base and the effect it might have had on hypothetical multiplayer numbers, he went on to say that "we're not too concerned about the size of the audience."
While it's admirable, in a way, that such confidence and sense of ease was exuded by the devs in the face of a smaller player base than some of their contemporary Xbox studios are hoping to get, it does seem a bit of a shame when those other studios will get the games in front of millions more players.
This was clear when we spoke to two other Xbox Game Studio developers in Halo: Campaign Evolved executive producer Damon Conn, and Ralph Fulton, founder and GM of Fable studio, Playground Games. Unlike Searcy, both developers are eager to branch to multiple platforms and are truly excited by it, because it will allow them to reach a wider audience.
"We're excited to put the game [out] and to play it with as many different people as we can," Conn said. "With Halo Campaign Evolved, we have it coming out on more platforms than ever before, and we're going to meet the player where they are."
The executive producer is also looking forward to players trying out cross-play, which he calls "a win for us, just sharing the experience with as many people as possible."
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"Halo has always been about coming together and shared experiences and socialising, and this is something that we're really excited about," Conn added.
Meanwhile, Fulton confirmed that he and the team at Playground Games are still committed to bringing Fable to Play Station 5, alongside Xbox Series X, Series S, and PC, like Halo, and are incredibly excited at the prospect of reaching a larger number of people.
"For us, we look at this as an opportunity to get this game - [in a series] that has been out of circulation for some 15 years - in front of as many fans who want to play it as possible," Fulton said. "We're really excited with the number of people we can bring this game to."
Each game can of course be treated in isolation to some extent, but it is intriguing to see such a contrast and witness such opposing views within the Xbox Game Studios group itself.
Fable has been in development for a very long time, but will officially launch on February 23, 2027, while Halo: Campaign Evolved releases globally on July 28. Gears of War: E-Day arrives on October 6.
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Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at Tech Radar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as Game Spot, NME, and Games Radar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X.
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