Don't panic: Xbox is still releasing games on PC despite exclusivity push

Xbox is going through a huge period of upheaval, as new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma rings in the changes as Microsoft tries to bring Xbox back to the forefront of gaming. While many of her decisions have proven popular with gamers, those of us who mainly play on our PC were confused when Sharma announced that Gears of War: E-Day would be an Xbox console exclusive, leaving us wondering if new releases wouldn’t be available to us. Thankfully, Chief Content Officer Matt Booty has put those concerns to rest.

Since taking over as Xbox’s head honcho, Sharma has been on a crusade to return the brand to its former glory. Having admitted that it needs to win players back, she has since confirmed that Microsoft’s Copilot AI tool is being scrapped, and lowered the cost of Xbox Game Pass after stating it had become “too expensive for players.”

She did, however, raise some concerns amongst PC gamers at Xbox Games Showcase when she announced that Gears of War: E-Day would be an “Xbox console exclusive,” prompting many to wonder if the days of simultaneous releases on Xbox consoles and PC storefronts were about to be a thing of the past. If you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember the days when we had to wait months for PC versions of Xbox games to release, and the thought of returning to those days is harrowing. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as CCO Matt Booty explained.

In an interview with GameInformer, Booty confirmed that the exclusivity talk is solely focused on the console market and doesn’t include PC. When asked about the change, he said: “When we say ‘console exclusives,’ it means Xbox console. It’ll still show up on all the normal places where we sell the PC version and our cloud. Wherever you can get Xbox Cloud streaming.”

While I personally don’t use Xbox’s Cloud service, I’m delighted to hear that their games will still be released as normal on PC moving forward. With Gears coming later this year and Fable next year, I’m just glad that I’ll be able to play them on day one, even though I don’t own a Series X.

While fan sentiment towards Xbox has taken an upswing since Sharma took over, the road back to the top remains difficult, and Microsoft has some tough days ahead. In an open letter to Xbox employees titled “Xbox Reset,” the CEO admitted that they are “currently unable to make as many consoles as players want to buy,” and that they “overextended” when expanding their studios. The letter comes as Jason Schreier reports in Bloomberg that massive layoffs are planned for July, with budgets cut amid declining revenue.