{"id":728965,"date":"2026-06-11T03:53:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:53:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/728965\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T03:53:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T03:53:19","slug":"xbox-exclusives-showcase-without-blade-elder-scrolls-6-more-from-matt-booty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/728965\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox Exclusives, Showcase Without Blade, Elder Scrolls 6, More From Matt Booty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tXbox<\/a> leadership shook up its strategy this week with the announcement that upcoming games \u201cGears of War: E-Day\u201d and \u201cClockwork Revolution\u201d would be exclusive to Xbox consoles and PCs.<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing years of Xbox breaking down platform barriers for its games with competitors PlayStation and Nintendo under longtime chief Phil Spencer, the move was a radical change by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe want to give Xbox players a reason to believe in Xbox, a reason to buy an Xbox, be an Xbox fan. We also want to reward the people who\u2019ve been with us and have been loyal,\u201d Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty<\/a> told Variety in an interview following Xbox\u2019s show Sunday. \u201cSo we\u2019re doing one this year in 2026, going to do one next year in 2027, and then we\u2019re going to continue to think about it going forward.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tBooty continued: \u201cI think you\u2019ve heard Asha say before, we want to make the right decision, not a fast decision. So, as we have the chance to think about the strategy overall and continue to look at it, it\u2019s going to be case by case. Our big multiplayer games, our big live service games are going to continue to be multiplatform. The games that we\u2019ve already announced coming to fans, and we\u2019ve already announced for other platforms, of course, we\u2019re going to honor that. We don\u2019t want to ever take something away from players, but those are the two that we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead more from Variety\u2018s interview with Xbox chief content officer Booty below.<\/p>\n

\t\tYou\u2019ve said one exclusive game this year with \u201cGears of War: E-Day,\u201d one next year with \u201cClockwork Revolution.\u201d Is it concrete that there will be only one exclusive next year, or is there room for that to change?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIn my life, I think, ahead about 12 months. So I\u2019m here to tell you about what we\u2019re doing with those two. But we\u2019re going to continue to look at it going forward. And consistent with what we\u2019ve done before, we\u2019re not going to reveal decisions about platforms when we haven\u2019t announced a date yet. So, if you follow what we\u2019ve done, when we date something is when we\u2019ll talk about platform exclusivity.<\/p>\n

\t\tBefore this year\u2019s showcase, fan discourse started regarding Xbox\u2019s decision to feature competitors\u2019 logos during its presentations. What was your reaction to that conversation and what do you mean to do moving forward?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tOne, we want clarity. I think players want to know, where are you going to play the game? What platforms? And that includes our own. Is it Gen 8? Is it Gen 9? We\u2019ve got X Cloud, we\u2019ve got Series S and X. We have Xbox PCs. We have a lot, so the first principle is just clarity. Then we also know that this is an Xbox show, and Xbox fans want to feel like it\u2019s their show. And I think we\u2019ll be able to, going forward, find that right balance. <\/p>\n

\t\tThere was no \u201cBlade\u201d in this year\u2019s showcase. I was hoping for \u201cBlade.\u201d When will we see \u201cBlade\u201d?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a big show, I can\u2019t fit everything in. It\u2019s a big show, and there\u2019s other beats coming up in the year.<\/p>\n

\t\tSo there\u2019s potential to hear something later?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s always potential to hear more about things that didn\u2019t show up today. <\/p>\n

\t\tI\u2019m assuming there are also conversations going on about what you could announce during the actual 25th anniversary of Xbox in the fall. Is there anything coming down the pipe for that that you saved from today?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWell, nothing I can share, nothing I can talk about. But it is a big year for us. Just when you think about not only 25th anniversary for Xbox, but 35 years for Blizzard, 40 years for Bethesda. I think it\u2019s great that we were able to open the show with \u201cGears,\u201d \u201cFable,\u201d \u201cHalo,\u201d and we\u2019re having such success right now with \u201cForza.\u201d These are things that we have been playing with Xbox for a decade or more. It\u2019s just so great to have that iconic IP anchored so heavily with the brand and with the 25 years. I mean, there aren\u2019t a whole lot of consumer brands that can say they\u2019re celebrating a 25 year anniversary that have this pop culture relevance. So I think it\u2019s just a great reflection of the brand, of what Xbox means to fans, and of our portfolio of IP.<\/p>\n

\t\tWe all saw this coming, but it was actually set this week with PlayStation\u2019s \u201cState of Play\u201d and announcements out of Summer Game Fest and now Showcase, that it\u2019s going to be a very crowded September for video game releases, based on date decisions impacted by \u201cGrand Theft Auto 6\u201d coming out in November. What are your thoughts on that \u2014 and that it spring 2027 is also shaping up to be crowded as the other main alternative here?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI just will take that as a reflection of good for the industry and good for players, right? There\u2019s a lot to play, there\u2019s a lot of excitement. I think all these games, it just shows that we\u2019ve got an industry with a lot of active development. At the end of the day, it\u2019s great for players.<\/p>\n

\n\tI think for us, we\u2019ve got a lot of confidence in \u201cGears.\u201d And we really want to get behind the teams, and part of that madness in the machine is trying to figure out where everything makes the most sense. The further things are out, probably the less predictable they get. But we also feel really good about moving \u201cFable\u201d to early next year, just to give that one a window. With \u201cGears\u201d coming out this fall, we\u2019ve got to be in it to win it, right? So let\u2019s get in there. It\u2019s going to be a lot going on, but I think we\u2019ve got a great game. And with \u201cFable,\u201d we really want to give that one room for everybody to play it and discover it.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow much of this year\u2019s Xbox Game Showcase was decided before Asha Sharma took over for Phil Spencer, and how much was set afterwards?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s phases to it. So, in terms of putting together the trailers, working with the teams, the timing of what\u2019s ready to show in relation to when it\u2019s going to ship, we start working on that in December [of the year before.] And Asha joined in February. So at that point, in terms of which games are candidates \u2014 because we always have more to show than we decide to put in the show \u2014 was locked down. But then she joined the process and has been with it since early March. And that\u2019s when we start getting into, OK, which ones are in? We\u2019ve always got more, what makes the most sense? And we start thinking about the ordering, we start thinking about what assets, which trailers make the most sense where, we write the script, we record our parts. So she\u2019s been with it for the last four months. <\/p>\n

\t\tWhat has that partnership been like for you? And how much are you collaborating at this point versus informing her on how things have previously been done?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tShe\u2019s great to work with, brings a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, a lot of curiosity, a lot of willingness to revisit things that maybe we might not have looked at before, which is fantastic. A very collaborative leader, which is great. And I feel on my part there is a responsibility. I think a lot of people that have been with Xbox for a while want to make sure that she gets up to speed on some of the nuance of the industry, some of the nuance of game production, and some of the nuance of how these things come together. And there\u2019s a lot of people around that can help with that. At the same time, we don\u2019t want to be too heavy with the history lesson, because she is very squarely focused on moving forward.<\/p>\n

\t\tHow much are you talking with the film and TV division to try and work through what the best timing is for certain releases? There\u2019s a \u201cCall of Duty\u201d movie in the works at Paramount with Taylor Sheridan \u2014 is there potential for a new \u201cCall of Duty\u201d game in the next few years to try and line up with whatever that movie is?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIf there\u2019s any game that has the best chance of doing the impossible, it would be \u201cCall of Duty,\u201d because they ship every year. So at the most, they\u2019ll be 11 months off. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s hard. Game production has always got an amount of variability to it, and film production has always got an amount of variability, in terms of when it gets started and when it kicks off. They tend to be in incubation for quite a while. So our goal is more that the linear and the game are complementary. We\u2019ve heard a lot about \u201cFallout,\u201d and there are people who enjoyed the show, never played the game, had no idea what it was and they want to make sure that there\u2019s a place for them to go if they like this world and want to keep going.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo it\u2019s more about making sure that there is an active part of that world and that universe for fans to go enjoy, rather than trying to sort of stick some landing where the two line up exactly. It\u2019s just really, really tough. <\/p>\n

\t\tI know if Todd Howard gets asked about \u201cElder Scrolls 6\u201d again, he\u2019s gonna die \u2014 but during the presentation every time Bethesda\u2019s logo came up, there was a catch in the audience and then people settled down when they saw what it was each time \u2014 which wasn\u2019t \u201cElder Scrolls 6.\u201d How do you deal with that aspect of it, given that there are so many fans who are so excited for whatever that announcement is going to be, but you\u2019re also dealing with disappointment when people have it in their head what it could be?\t<\/p>\n

\n\tI would say one of the more challenging balancing acts of someone in a job like mine is balancing that you want to go show the world all the cool stuff you\u2019re working on, and you want to get them excited early, but we also know that we want to wait till the right moment. And when you decide to show it, you want it to be the best you\u2019ve got. And also that when you show the game, you\u2019re also giving them a promise of, hey, it\u2019s coming soon. So I can tell you, having visited Bethesda and sat with Todd and seen \u201cElder Scrolls\u201d playing, it looks amazing, and it\u2019s coming along well. And we\u2019ll make sure to announce it and really reveal it at the right time.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis interview has been edited and condensed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xbox leadership shook up its strategy this week with the announcement that upcoming games \u201cGears of War: E-Day\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,262768,241931,61,6734],"class_list":["post-728965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-matt-booty","tag-summer-game-fest","tag-technology","tag-xbox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}