As someone who is a long time Xbox fan and was fortunate enough to grab myself a Series X after a month since its debut, I’m hungry for more exclusive titles. When I mean exclusive titles, I literally mean games that belong on the Xbox platform.
Nowadays, I believe when people say a game is Xbox exclusive, it usually means a game is only for the PC and Xbox consoles. I generally call those titles “Microsoft exclusive.” Games like Halo Infinite or Gears of War 5 are prime examples of that.
I believe these Microsoft exclusives should be a thing of the past as we enter deeper into the Series consoles lifespan. Consider me old fashioned, but I simply miss the days when Xbox exclusives were considered Xbox exclusive titles.
My Xbox Beginnings…
My Xbox journey is probably relatable to those who got into the Xbox ecosystem. What convinced me to buy an original Xbox back in the early 2000s was the first Halo. I come from a big first-person shooter background, and when I saw the cover art, it instantly reminded me of Doom, so I had to get it.
I bought the console and game in early 2002. Halo was fantastic and is easily one of my all time favorite video games I’ve played with other masterpieces that were released at a similar time.
It was an amazing first game to witness on the Xbox platform, and that’s what made it so special. At the time, the only way you could play the original Halo was through the original Xbox. Before the PC version and before the many ports and remakes that came along.
I never thought I would enjoy playing a first-person shooter on a gamepad so much, but Halo made me realize it was fun to play these types of games without a mouse and keyboard set up.
But outside of Halo, I was also into other exclusive titles like Mechassault and Fable. That’s one thing I truly missed about the original Xbox and 360 era. The exclusive titles lived up to being an exclusive experience for the Xbox platform.
This was always one of my favorite wallpaper photos of the original Halo.
Halo was my gate way to the Xbox gaming experience and it led me to other gaming adventures that I can only obtain on the Xbox platform. That’s what made the previous Xbox eras so special because it had its own particular thing going on.
By no means, I’m against games that are console exclusive. I believe there should be a healthy balance. Sony is nailing that down for the PlayStation 5 experience. There are games like Ghostwire: Tokyo which is released on the console and PC. Then there are games like God of War: Ragnarok which is only exclusive to the PlayStation consoles.
The Lukewarm Xbox One Era
The Xbox One experience wasn’t the greatest compared to its previous consoles, but I still had a great time playing it. I loved Halo: The Master Chief Collection when it was starting to turn around from being a buggy mess to enjoying Recore. I’ve always thought that game was rather underrated for what it was trying to do.
I thought the exclusives during the Xbox One era could’ve been better. I can’t think of any exclusive title that I can actually recall great that isn’t Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It was also just lacking interesting IPs for me to get into.
Believe it or not, my all time favorite game during the Xbox One era wasn’t an exclusive game. It was actually a multiplatform game and it’s possibly the best reboot that I can imagine.
Doom 2016 will forever be the game that defined the Xbox One experience for me because it was such an amazing reboot of a childhood favorite of mine. It was easily the game I put a good amount of my life into.
It’s also the game that really benefitted from the Series X enhancement. The improved load times make campaign a much more enjoyable experience when replaying it. I also use the game’s map editor, SnapMap, and play user-made maps a lot too.
Load times can be cumbersome for Doom SnapMap, but the Series X enhancement has definitely resolved those issues.
Enter the Xbox Series X
My experience with the Xbox Series X has been great as far as playing my favorite games go. It’s certainly nice to have the enhancement that I didn’t get from the base Xbox One console.
Halo Infinite was probably the biggest exclusive Microsoft has to offer in recent times. I thought the game was great overall.
The campaign is by far the best that 343 Industries has crafted. I loved how the multiplayer feels like a modernized version of Halo 2 which is one of my favorite multiplayer experiences.
I believe Infinite will be the best Halo 343 Industries have made in the long term.
I also look forward to the new additional content update in the future like Forge. I honestly cannot wait for more maps and game modes to play. Halo Infinite will only get better with time especially I love how all these content updates are free.
But as much I love Halo and first-person shooters in general, I do want something more. I believe there is still room for Microsoft to deliver an action adventure title that can be their Zelda or something along the lines of that.
I believe Microsoft should adapt to some of the strategies that Sony is doing where they have a balance of true and console exclusive games. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has stated that there is a possibility of gamers won’t see as many exclusive titles for the Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
I honestly found that statement to be dissatisfying because exclusives are very important to the platforms that we choose to play. It’s also there to encourage you to try out one from the other.
The original Gears of War was a big deal during the 360 era.
What got me into PC gaming was it had games like Doom or Age of Empires. Just like how Halo convinced me to get an original Xbox and then I tried out other games. Microsoft needs to recognize the importance and value an exclusive game can have.
From a marketing standpoint, I understand video games are expensive to make. That’s why developers tend to prefer to make multiplatform titles because it supports various consoles and PC.
What that means is there will be a bigger audience to attract with their product.
There’s also that consumer friendly factor that makes multiplatform games so appealing. This can be said the same for games that are on one particular console and on PC like Halo Infinite.
When we go back to the point where I talked about experiencing the original Halo for the first time on the original Xbox, it was awesome to own a gaming console to play a game like this.
Scorn was recently released and was one of the more anticipated titles among Xbox and PC gamers.
It left me with a lasting impression and showed me other Xbox exclusives I could play when I was still exploring the original Xbox library at the time.
I believe if I’ve gotten Halo for the PC back in 2003, it’ll still blow me away with its content and awesome game design, but the magic wouldn’t be as mesmerizing. Especially in hindsight, Halo has held up extremely well compared to other big console shooter titles.
The Importance of True Exclusives
At the end of the day, Microsoft needs more “true” exclusive games for their Xbox platform. I love my Xbox Series X for being a stellar console to play older Xbox games with better quality of life.
After owning the console for nearly two years, I haven’t bumped into too many technical issues unlike the Xbox 360 where I did went through the Red Ring of Death issue. My Xbox One had problems with reading the disc at times, and there were power brick issues.
The Xbox Series X is very consumer friendly in terms of allowing me to use previous Xbox controllers from last generation. I personally prefer the original model of the Xbox One controllers over the Series versions.
However, I still want games that make me feel proud for owning a Series console. Games that can define what it’s like to own a Series console and possibly be the next killer app.
Is there any reason to get a Series console over a high end gaming PC outside of Xbox Game Pass and cheaper price for inferior performance?
For me, there’s not much more I can think of because PC gamers are very much going to get a similar experience versus Xbox gamers. If I was a big PC gamer and wanted a current gaming console, I’d have more interest in getting a PlayStation 5 due to the exclusive titles.
I wonder if Bullet Witch will ever get rebooted. It was a 360 exclusive I had a soft spot for.
By 2024 and beyond, I hope to see more true Xbox exclusives. Microsoft has acquired so many big name studios, so time will tell whether this action will mean anything.
I’m sure the Xbox Series game library will be filled with many multiplatform games as time progresses. So that means Microsoft needs to start making true exclusive titles to make the Series console more attractive for a unique experience.
I don’t think Microsoft should need to worry about not being consumer friendly just because of having games that can only be playable on the Xbox consoles. They’re already doing a lot of consumer friendly stuff.
From making their exclusive titles being on Xbox and PC platforms, making Xbox Game Pass have great value, and allowing Xbox Series consoles to have excellent backwards compatibility support.
But in the long run, true exclusive are going to make the Series consoles stand out. It needs to, so the consoles don’t feel like inferior gaming PCs once its hardware starts showing its age.
