Xbox CSO shuts down rumor that says exclusives are just for show, says we’ll get “signature exclusives” every year

Chief Strategy Officer at Xbox, Matthew Ball, has quickly shut down rumors surrounding the exclusivity of upcoming Xbox titles such as Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. We say exclusive, though both of these games are still coming to PC – they just won’t be available on PlayStation consoles, i.e., the PS5. And the Xbox CSO promises it will stay that way.

Recent rumors of breaking the exclusivity deal surfaced earlier this week, led by a well-known leaker by the name of SneakersSO. The now-debunked rumor said talk of exclusives during the Xbox Games Showcase was “nothing more [than] a show for convention season” – and that Xbox was already talking about “how to reverse course on it”.

Matthew Ball says Xbox has never talked about changing the plan

According to Ball, Xbox has had “no conversations” about reversing the course of the exclusives plan. So far, only E-Day and Clockwork Revolution have been officially announced as part of the new exclusivity strategy, which comes shortly after Sony revealed its intention to do the same thing with its first-party single-player titles.

In the same post to X, which denies the rumors, Ball also reiterates Xbox’s plan to produce “signature exclusives” each year. In its Xbox Games Showcase 2026 Recap, the company also clearly stated that the two announced titles (E-Day and Clockwork) “are not timed exclusives” – meaning they likely never will be officially playable on a PlayStation.

A handful of other first-party titles will at least be making their way to rival platforms, including Fable and Halo: Campaign Evolved, a modern remake of the very first Halo game. Xbox notes that games “already announced for multiplatform releases will stick to that plan” – so there has been no U-turn here. Moving forward, however, exclusives are very much the plan.

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Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is most responsible for reporting on and editing news. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.

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