Another Console War is Inevitable: Xbox Revises Its Exclusivity Policy

The new Xbox leadership under Asha Sharma is rethinking whether first‑party games should keep showing up on rival hardware. Notably, Forza Horizon 5 sold north of 5 million copies on PS5, so the money side of the ledger is hard to ignore.

Insiders say a flexible stance is on the table: continue to monetize PlayStation audiences but, at the same time, pull some flagship series back into Xbox-only territory — e.g., Halo and Gears (not necessarily everything, and not overnight). Internally there’s a tug-of-war: revenue from cross-platform releases vs. the need to make Xbox boxes feel more compelling to buyers. The publisher appears to be hunting for a compromise rather than flipping a single permanent switch.