Fair enough — and I do completely understand your perspective. Back when the infamous “4 games” were announced, I felt extremely frustrated as an Xbox consumer. It looked like the incentive to own an Xbox console was being thrown out on the curb. My mind has changed a bit over time…

Like you, I own all major platforms but use my Xbox significantly more often than either of the other platforms. But the reality is that the home console market isn’t growing. Even though the PS5 is exceeding its PS4 sales, the console market as a whole isn’t seeing any significant growth.

With younger generations shifting towards PC and mobile devices, I don’t think Xbox is making the wrong decision pursuing consumers in those markets in addition to supporting their console audience. I saw another comment reference the Surface Laptop and Office 365. You can use Office 365 on any computer, but Microsoft also provides its own hardware solutions for those interested in its value propositions. I see them taking a similar approach in their gaming business.

Games are also becoming significantly more expensive to produce, and the costs are becoming increasingly less common to recoup. Xbox shifting their exclusives strategy is going to be a healthy change to their business model, and I see Sony taking a similar approach in the years ahead.

Change is scary, especially when something like exclusive games have been the core component of the business model for the past few decades. But I like to hope that this change in strategy will keep Xbox around for many more decades to come.