While Xbox might tell us that exclusivity with Gears of War: E-Day and other upcoming titles was always the plan, anyone with a memory that lasts around a year could tell you exclusivity was being kicked to the curb under the final days of the Spencer era. However, Xbox is staying true to the exclusive course now, and won't be reversing its strategy on its already reversed strategy.
This confusing sentiment is made a bit clearer by Xbox CSO Matthew Ball, who said that despite rumours of Microsoft being open to uncertainty and changing strategy, exclusives are here to stay. "Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will stay exclusive. There are no conversations and have been no conversations to 'reverse course.' And as we said last week, players can continue to expect signature exclusives from us every year," he wrote.
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We'll have to wait and see how many exclusives we get per year following the anticipated great studio purge. At least, soon Xbox fans may finally get some reason to hang onto their console, and not just ditch it for a Fire Stick, PlayStation, or anything else that said it could be an Xbox back in the old marketing campaigns. Exclusives help sell hardware, but with every game still coming to Windows too, you don't necessarily have to buy an Xbox to play the new Gears of War.