Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Series X won't have any true exclusives for the first few years of the system's lifespan, as all titles will be cross-gen with the Xbox One for the foreseeable future. The Xbox brand is taking a different tactic with its move into the next generation, especially in comparison to Sony.
The recent PS5 reveal event announced several exclusives that will be coming to the system, including games like Astro's Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Horizon Forbidden West. Sony has made it clear that gamers will need to purchase a PlayStation 5 to play these games. By comparison, Microsoft is promoting the Xbox family as a singular service going into the next generation of consoles, which means that the first-party exclusives will be available on both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X. This means that, yes, games like Halo Infinite will be available on both systems at launch.
Microsoft has defended the lack of exclusives on Xbox Series X in the past, as it had been revealed that there would be no exclusives for at least a year. It turns out that the exclusives gap will be a lot bigger than anyone realized. Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed in a post on the official Xbox website that there won't be any Xbox Series X exclusives for a couple of years, and that all of the first-party games will also be on Xbox One.
"We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios. That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years—like Halo Infinite—will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. We won’t force you to upgrade to Xbox Series X at launch to play Xbox exclusives."
There are some benefits to this approach, as many gamers are attracted to the Smart Delivery service of the Xbox line, which will give players ownership of both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X version of the game when purchasing the game. There are some companies that are offering a similar service for the PlayStation 4 and 5, but it depends on individual publishers and is not a promise on the part of Sony.
Microsoft has promised that cross-gen won't hold back future Xbox games and there are a lot of reasons to believe them. It generally takes a few years for developers to make the most of a console's capabilities and create memorable titles. The intention of the Xbox Series X is for Microsoft to promote it as having the best versions of its games, but people who own the older system won't be held back. It might not be the smartest move in the world in terms of day one sales, as there are far fewer incentives to buy the Xbox Series X at launch. Instead, Microsoft is playing the long game and pursuing a wider subscriber base for Xbox Game Pass, so people who can't commit to a next-generation system at launch won't be left behind if they can't afford to make the jump straight away.
The Xbox Series X will be released during the 2020 holiday season.
Source: Xbox