Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty on Shifting Exclusivity Strategy, Working With Asha Sharma and Why ‘Blade’ and ‘Elder Scrolls 6’ Didn’t Make It Into Showcase

By Jennifer Maas

TV Business Writer

Xbox leadership shook up its strategy this week with the announcement that upcoming games “Gears of War: E-Day” and “Clockwork Revolution” would be exclusive to Xbox consoles and PCs.

Following years of Xbox breaking down platform barriers for its games with competitors PlayStation and Nintendo under longtime chief Phil Spencer, the move was a radical change by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

“We want to give Xbox players a reason to believe in Xbox, a reason to buy an Xbox, be an Xbox fan. We also want to reward the people who’ve been with us and have been loyal,” Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty told Variety in an interview following Xbox’s show Sunday. “So we’re doing one this year in 2026, going to do one next year in 2027, and then we’re going to continue to think about it going forward.”