Microsoft Won't Release Xbox Series X Exclusives For at Least a Year

Microsoft has confirmed that the company doesn't plan on releasing any games that are exclusive to the Xbox Series X until a year or two have passed after the console's launch. Matt Booty, the current head of Xbox Game Studios, told MCV about this unique shift in game release strategy and said that content Microsoft and its studios produce after the Xbox Series X releases this year will be playable "up and down" the Xbox family of devices.

This means that anyone who owns an Xbox One and is worried about getting left behind when the Xbox Series X releases can breathe a sigh of relief, for now. Booty said that the release strategy will work sort of like it does on a PC where games are playable regardless of the system that you're using. He added that Microsoft wants to make sure people who already have an Xbox One now or buy one before the Xbox Series X releases still feel like they're making a sound investment.

"As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices," Booty told MCV. "We want to make sure that if someone invests in Xbox between now and [Series X] that they feel that they made a good investment and that we're committed to them with content."

It's a stark change from how console generations have been handled in the past. The expected release strategy is typically to have some games release on both the current generation of consoles and the next one for a while until people are weaned off of the cross-gen release and have to eventually get whatever the next-gen device is.

Booty continued to say that Microsoft's new plan is to "pick one or two IP" to focus on and show how games can take advantage of the console's enhanced features. He mentioned Halo Infinite which is one of two games that we know is releasing on the Xbox Series X, the other being Senua's Saga: Hellblade II.

It's the first time in over 15 years that we'll have a Halo title launching in sync with a new console," Booty continued. "And that team is definitely going to be doing things to take advantage of [Series X]."

The Xbox Series X is scheduled to release during the holidays of 2020, but neither the console nor the two announced games have precise release dates.