Xbox One Is Pacing Ahead Of Xbox 360 When It Comes To Exclusive Games

Microsoft has been catching a lot of flak for the perceived lack of Xbox One exclusives recently. The publisher’s E3 2017 press conference showcased plenty of games, and the new Xbox One X, but you couldn’t miss the fact that almost all of Microsoft’s big franchises, like Halo and Gears of War, were missing in action. Forza Motorsport 7, Sea of Thieves, and Crackdown 3 all look solid, but Microsoft’s lineup of first-party exclusives feels a bit lacking.

But is the Xbox One really hurting for exclusives? The folks at BoxPlay crunched the numbers, and found the Xbox One is actually trending ahead of the Xbox 360 when it comes to exclusive titles. Between its launch in 2005 and replacement in 2013, the Xbox 360 got 226 exclusive games, and, of course, not all of them were gems! Remember Doritos Crash Course? And Kinect Star Wars? Yeah.

By comparison, the Xbox One, which has been on the market around four-and-a-half years, already has 147 exclusives. If the Xbox One keeps up this pace and ends up having a lifespan as long as the Xbox 360 (around 8 years), it will end up with 270 to 290 exclusives. It should also be mentioned, that of the 42 games shown at Microsoft’s E3 press conference, 22 had some sort of exclusive content. Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg has also promised more big exclusives are on the way…

“I can tell you that there are a lot of other projects happening for Xbox, with a lot of big titles that we’re not talking about right now. We always balance that.”

So, in terms of pure numbers, the Xbox One exclusive situation isn’t bad at all. Of course, quantity doesn’t matter if gamers don’t believe in the quality of your exclusives. Microsoft‘s big issue this generation has mostly been one of marketing – they have the hardware and exclusives, they’re just doing a poor job of selling them. Meanwhile, Sony is only releasing one major game this holiday (Gran Turismo Sport) and nobody seems to mind.

You can check out WWG’s latest Xbox coverage here.

[via BoxPlay]