Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Minecraft: Microsoft Considers Massive Xbox Exclusivity
Pulling Minecraft from PlayStation and Nintendo: that’s the nuclear scenario in a new survey Microsoft just sent to its own players. Bluff, trial balloon, or a real 180-degree turn? The question is already shaking up the entire industry.
The questionnaire, sent on October 14 to Xbox Insider Program members and verified as authentic by Windows Central, goes far beyond just gauging loyalty to the Xbox. It floats a true “nuclear option”: making the entire Xbox catalog—Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Diablo, Hideo Kojima’s PHYSINT—exclusive to Xbox consoles, with only Call of Duty spared. For Minecraft, the scenario goes even further: pulling it from sale on rival platforms. Microsoft has yet to comment officially.
Image credit: Steampunk Avenue
An official survey that tests the unthinkable
The survey sent yesterday to Xbox Insider Program members is nothing like your average customer feedback form. Microsoft targeted a specific group: gamers who own multiple devices and are likely to switch between Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo. Franchise by franchise, the survey asks if Xbox console exclusivity—temporary or permanent—would push them to use their Microsoft console more. PC releases aren’t part of these scenarios.
The games in the survey aren’t B-list licenses. We’re talking the heavy hitters from Xbox Game Studios:
- Fallout (including the next entry)
- The Elder Scrolls (including the sixth installment)
- DOOM
- Diablo
- PHYSINT, Hideo Kojima’s project
- Minecraft, with an even more extreme proposal
The survey clarifies that games already available on other platforms wouldn’t be pulled, but would stop receiving new content. It’s a key detail that shows Microsoft is experimenting on its platform—even with high-stakes moves.
The nuclear option: every Xbox game exclusive (except Call of Duty)
The most jaw-dropping question comes at the end. Microsoft asks participants to imagine a world where “all future releases of every franchise developed by Xbox, except for Call of Duty, become Xbox console exclusives.” The original text adds that “for Minecraft only, existing titles would no longer be available for purchase on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles, and would stop receiving content updates.” In short, Minecraft would be pulled entirely from rival stores.
The Call of Duty carve-out isn’t random. It likely stems from Microsoft’s commitments to regulators during the Activision Blizzard buyout, which required the franchise to stay on competing platforms. For the rest of the catalog, no such obligation seems to apply—making the scenario technically possible, even if it’s still hypothetical.
The survey then offers several responses: switch to an Xbox you already own, buy a new one, move to PC, or just ignore these games. Microsoft is clearly trying to gauge how far players would go if the Xbox ecosystem locked down completely.
Why Microsoft is considering a 180-degree turn
To understand why this survey exists, you have to look at the numbers. As Jez Corden points out in his analysis for Windows Central, Microsoft’s current multiplatform strategy “has left many multi-device users with fewer reasons to turn on their console.” Every game sold on the PlayStation Store costs Microsoft a 30% commission paid to Sony—a hefty toll when you’re selling “mountains of games” on a rival’s turf.
The journalist also mentions a “RAMpocalypse” that tanked hardware sales to historic lows, plus global distribution headaches even before the component crisis. In this context, the release of Halo Campaign Evolved on PlayStation reportedly caused, in his words, “irreparable damage to Xbox as a hardware brand.” The dilemma is clear: keep enriching rival platforms, or go all-in to make the Xbox console matter again.
Community reactions: from skepticism to disbelief
On ResetEra, reactions swing from excitement to disbelief. “Do it. The brand needs software to compete,” says one user, instantly countered by another: “You have to sell the hardware first.” The Minecraft scenario is where doubts really pile up. “I can’t imagine Minecraft as a console exclusive… They’d lose a ridiculous amount of money,” sums up one forum member. Another calls the idea “straight-up suicide.”
Several voices point out a flaw in the methodology: the survey targets Xbox Insiders, who are already deep in the Microsoft ecosystem. “Isn’t it kind of pointless to ask these questions to people already in the Xbox bubble?” asks one comment. Another user highlights a central paradox: “Console exclusives aren’t really exclusives and won’t sell consoles. They’d just make less money.” Since the games would still be on PC, nothing would force a PlayStation gamer to buy an Xbox instead of just switching to Steam—a limit even the boldest business strategies would struggle to overcome.
A survey isn’t an announcement, and Microsoft hasn’t taken any official stance on these scenarios. But just asking these questions of its own players shows the scale of the strategic dilemma facing Xbox. Microsoft’s next financial results, expected in January, and a possible Xbox event in Q1 2027 could bring the first real answers about where the industry’s richest—and most hotly contested—catalog is headed.
