By Dexerto | Created at 2026-10-15 12:35:48 | Updated at 2026-10-18 07:55:44
2 days ago
Microsoft may be considering a major change to its Xbox strategy, with a new survey asking players how they would react if franchises like Fallout, Minecraft, and The Elder Scrolls became console exclusives.
In recent years, Xbox has increasingly embraced releasing games on rival platforms, rather than keeping them exclusive to its own consoles. This is how we ended up with the likes of Gears of War: Reloaded and Forza Horizon on PS5.
However, new CEO Asha Sharma has restored some console exclusivity, with Gears of War: E-Day not coming to Sony platforms.
Now, a questionnaire distributed to some Xbox Insiders suggests Microsoft is at least considering whether to make even more of its biggest titles exclusive.
According to Windows Central‘s Jez Corden, who obtained and verified screenshots of the survey, Microsoft is asking players whether they would change platforms if certain games stopped releasing on rival consoles.
The questionnaire reportedly names several major franchises, including Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, and Minecraft. It also includes other properties included as part of the Activision Blizzard takeover, like Diablo, as well as Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT.
MojangOne question even mentions the possibility that every future game from an Xbox-owned studio becomes console-exclusive, with one notable exception.
“Imagine it was announced that all future title releases from every XBOX-developed gaming franchise except Call of Duty will be console-exclusive to XBOX,” the survey reads. “For Minecraft only, existing titlkes would no longer be available for purchase on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles and would not receive any new content updates.”
“However, there is no impact to any of the existing titles or content you already own.”
Players are then asked whether losing access to these games would be enough to persuade PlayStation and Nintendo users to switch to Xbox, or whether they’d abandon the franchises altogether.
It also explores the possibility of making individual games timed exclusives, rather than permanently restricting them to Xbox.
It’s worth noting that the survey doesn’t confirm that Microsoft intends to make games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls exclusive to Xbox, but it does seem to suggest it’s something that’s on the table. This comes just after Sharma gave a cryptic response when asked about Elder Scrolls 6 being Xbox-only.
