Xbox’s new leader is neither confirming nor denying a potential comeback for exclusives, but the message is summed up in a single line: “A plan is a plan until it isn’t.” Asha Sharma has made it clear that, for now, Xbox first-party games will still ship on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. She is leaving the door open for exclusivity to return, yet she wraps it up with the same phrase that captures the mood: “A plan is a plan until it isn’t.”
It has been a little over a week since Xbox’s leadership shake-up: Phil Spencer has retired, and Sarah Bond is no longer Xbox president. Asha Sharma has now stepped in as the new head of Xbox, and Matt Booty has been promoted. It is still too early to draw hard conclusions, but Sharma has already surprised plenty of players with a few statements and early priorities, including a renewed emphasis on Xbox consoles themselves.
Xbox Will Go Where the Players Are
Many things may change, but the most argued-over issue has been Xbox first-party releases landing on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Sharma says she has heard the frustration from some fans, yet the reality is that Xbox Game Studios titles will continue to arrive on other platforms. In an interview with Windows Central, she confirmed it directly: “We’re going to continue going where the players are.”
That line effectively restates the multiplatform strategy, but when asked whether exclusives could return, Sharma’s answer turned more cautious. She said that, “right now,” she needs to learn: the “why” behind those decisions, what Xbox was optimizing for, and what the data says about the strategy today; she added that she is looking at “long-term value”, not what made sense at a previous moment or what delivers short-term efficiency, before concluding: “A plan is a plan until it isn’t.”
It does not slam any doors shut, but it also hints that if games such as Forza Horizon 5, Oblivion Remastered, and Indiana Jones perform strongly on PS5, the current direction is likely to continue. Sharma also said that, for her, “Xbox starts with its fans, and we’ll grow from there,” and that she wants to reduce the “artificial divide” between different device types, meaning more investment in breaking down barriers and helping developers build once and have their games show up across multiple hardware experiences.
Source: 3djuegos
