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Microsoft has been pretty clear on their direction of unified Xbox/PC gaming, so in general I haven't been remotely as concerned about the exclusivity problem.

Microsoft has been pretty clear on their direction of unified Xbox/PC gaming, so in general I haven't been remotely as concerned about the exclusivity problem. It would obviously be nice if it could also show up on PlayStation and Switch, but I'm personally happy that Xbox games that would previously have been console exclusives have been releasing as Xbox/PC games.

WorldMaker 6y ago
Microsoft hasn't entirely been as clear about it, but there is a sense that Microsoft sees Xbox as a services platform/cloud provider for all consoles more than a single console today (and Microsoft themselves are emphasizing that with Series X it is definitely not a single console anymore and more of a console family). xCloud is likely to support every device that will have them. The current focus is on Android, but Microsoft has been working hard to convince Apple to let them have a first class XCloud experience on iOS, and there's rumors that Microsoft is trying to sweeten the pot with strong macOS support by xCloud. A bunch of Microsoft's Xbox "Exclusives" have quietly made their way to Switch over the last few years, complete with Xbox Account signin, and lots of rumors have been that Microsoft wants to heavily push Xbox as a cross-platform multiplayer stack on Switch, to point where the craziest rumors have been that Microsoft was even trying to sweet talk Nintendo themselves in letting them take over the gaming account system on Switch and leave Nintendo to core competencies. (With the recent Nintendo Account hijacking issues, that may even be a wise plan. Nintendo seem like they'd rather not be stewards of a complicated account system if they could get away with it.) In fears over Google's Stadia and nVidia's Cloud Gaming, Sony and Microsoft even announced a shared xCloud infrastructure plan, with xCloud going to take over some of PS Now's backend. That opens the possibility, as wild as it sounds, at this point that we might see more "Xbox Exclusive" games on PlayStation at least via xCloud on PS, given that announcement. (And Microsoft does have non-"Xbox Exclusive" games on PlayStation today, though that mostly just means Minecraft right now.) Again, almost all of that is scuttlebutt, rumors and rumors upon rumors, so it is definitely not "clear" what if anything Microsoft is thinking here, but "Xbox Exclusive" seems a lot more "flexible" than any of the other console platforms, because Microsoft's idea of a platform has shifted a lot with Azure.

WorldMaker 6y ago

Microsoft hasn't entirely been as clear about it, but there is a sense that Microsoft sees Xbox as a services platform/cloud provider for all consoles more than a single console today (and Microsoft themselves are emphasizing that with Series X it is definitely not a single console anymore and more of a console family). xCloud is likely to support every device that will have them. The current focus is on Android, but Microsoft has been working hard to convince Apple to let them have a first class XCloud experience on iOS, and there's rumors that Microsoft is trying to sweeten the pot with strong macOS support by xCloud. A bunch of Microsoft's Xbox "Exclusives" have quietly made their way to Switch over the last few years, complete with Xbox Account signin, and lots of rumors have been that Microsoft wants to heavily push Xbox as a cross-platform multiplayer stack on Switch, to point where the craziest rumors have been that Microsoft was even trying to sweet talk Nintendo themselves in letting them take over the gaming account system on Switch and leave Nintendo to core competencies. (With the recent Nintendo Account hijacking issues, that may even be a wise plan. Nintendo seem like they'd rather not be stewards of a complicated account system if they could get away with it.) In fears over Google's Stadia and nVidia's Cloud Gaming, Sony and Microsoft even announced a shared xCloud infrastructure plan, with xCloud going to take over some of PS Now's backend. That opens the possibility, as wild as it sounds, at this point that we might see more "Xbox Exclusive" games on PlayStation at least via xCloud on PS, given that announcement. (And Microsoft does have non-"Xbox Exclusive" games on PlayStation today, though that mostly just means Minecraft right now.) Again, almost all of that is scuttlebutt, rumors and rumors upon rumors, so it is definitely not "clear" what if anything Microsoft is thinking here, but "Xbox Exclusive" seems a lot more "flexible" than any of the other console platforms, because Microsoft's idea of a platform has shifted a lot with Azure.