Once, the very thought of iconic Xbox titles like Halo or Gears of War making their way to rival platforms seemed impossible. It’s akin to starting The Master Chief Collection on PC and choosing to play with a DualSense controller—something just doesn’t feel quite right.

Growing up, I had a PS2, while two of my older brothers had an Xbox and a Nintendo GameCube. Without them realizing it, my parents had drawn battle lines in the console wars. My gaming experiences were shaped by exclusive titles that, in normal circumstances, you couldn’t find anywhere else. With a large family of nine, there was always a fresh game to dive into, no matter where I went in the house.

The Meaning of Console Exclusives: Both Crucial and Irrelevant

That said, loyalty to our respective consoles was strong. One brother would constantly rave about the brilliance of Super Mario Sunshine, while the other hailed Halo 2 as a game changer. Meanwhile, I had no complaints with Final Fantasy X and the plethora of other JRPGs that Sony’s platform offered. Like many gamers of that era, we found our favorites, and it felt natural to stick with the console that housed the games we loved most.

But as time passed, those lines began to blur. Many classic games from the past were ported and remastered, and the financial and technical challenges of developing AAA titles grew to the point where keeping games exclusive to a single platform began to limit sales. The result? Big-name franchises like Final Fantasy moved to other platforms, and while Sony and Xbox stuck to their guns, the idea of exclusivity slowly lost its grip. As for Nintendo, they’ve continued on their unique path, so we’ll focus on the big two for now.

Sony began releasing PC versions of Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Days Gone, and others, but only months after the console release, confident that these games had already gathered their fanbases. For Sony, these PC ports were bonuses, not lifelines. Similarly, the appearance of Horizon in LEGO form on the Nintendo Switch was a calculated partnership, not an attempt to undermine the strength of PlayStation exclusives.

On the other hand, Microsoft’s approach was markedly different. With the launch of Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft began releasing its exclusive titles on both Xbox and PC at the same time, a philosophy complicated further by the introduction of the Xbox Series S. Microsoft wasn’t selling games across multiple platforms—they were offering them as part of a service that built a vast and interconnected ecosystem. However, as this vision faltered, Microsoft found itself scrambling to turn Xbox into a console with games people would want to play. This led to massive studio acquisitions and the revival of beloved IPs like Fable and Perfect Dark.

But reports suggest that the days of Xbox exclusivity may be numbered. Halo, Gears of War, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and other blockbuster titles may soon make their way to PlayStation 5, a move that signals Xbox’s shifting strategy.

What Happens When Xbox Leaves Halo Behind?

Recent reports from sources like NateTheHate and Jez Corden have revealed that Halo could be coming to both the PS5 and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, likely as part of The Master Chief Collection to bring all the major games in the series to new platforms. Other titles like Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Microsoft Flight Simulator are also reportedly making the jump. This signals that Xbox might bring many of its back-catalog titles to PlayStation and Switch.

When games like Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Grounded, and even Indiana Jones and The Great Circle were announced for PS5, it felt like Xbox was intentionally withholding its biggest and most iconic games. These titles were reserved solely for Xbox, and once you crossed that line and played on rival hardware, there was no going back. But as more games reach other platforms, the justification for maintaining Xbox as a standalone console becomes harder to defend. What was once a platform with exclusive must-play titles risks becoming just another service and publisher, as its offerings expand across platforms.

This shift is a result of Xbox’s struggle to compete over two generations of consoles and the plateau of Game Pass, which has yet to prove consistently profitable. Moving to other platforms seems not only logical but necessary to keep Xbox’s offerings viable and break even.

Perhaps this was always the inevitable end for Xbox, especially after Starfield—once hoped to be a transformative game for the console—fell short of expectations. In the end, Xbox may embrace a future where it leaves the console business behind, becoming a service provider and third-party publisher like Sega after the Dreamcast. While this may mark the end of the console era for Xbox, it could lead to an entirely new phase where Microsoft focuses on making even better games.



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