Microsoft's Matt Booty has confirmed to MCV in an interview published today that the Xbox Series X will not host any exclusives that won't also work on Xbox One at launch. Furthermore, Booty says this is their plan for at least the first year or two after the Series X launch.
"We want to make sure that if someone invests in Xbox between now and [the launch of Series X] that they feel that they made a good investment and that we’re committed to them with content,” said Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios. "As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices."
The decision by Microsoft bucks the trend often see with a new console launch. Historically, some games such as annual sports titles and some major franchises like Assassin's Creed may get cross-generational launches, but for the most part a new console has long meant some element of obsolescence for players on prior gen hardware.
Booty also makes it clear that just because the new games launching this fall alongside Series X will play on Xbox One, some of them are being crafted to highlight the features of Series X, which intends to still give some players good reason to adopt the next console early.
"Our approach is to pick one or two IP that we’re going to focus on and make sure that they’re there at the launch of the console, taking advantage of all the features. And for us that’s going to be Halo Infinite, which is a big opportunity," Booty continued. "It’s the first time in over 15 years that we’ll have a Halo title launching in sync with a new console. And that team is definitely going to be doing things to take advantage of [Series X].”
We haven't yet heard how Microsoft's primary rival, Sony, will approach the same situation with their launch of PS5, also expected to arrive this holiday season. The PS4 made its full public debut in February of its launch year, so we may be getting very close to a similar "PlayStation Meeting." The next generation is just around the corner.
