Xbox had a big presence at Gamescom 2026 on the show floor, with its own livestream and hands-on demos for upcoming games like Fable. But Microsoft’s gaming division was much less interested in making waves when it comes to big news about its upcoming hardware plans or what the return of exclusivity will mean for The Elder Scrolls 6.
We’ve been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Helix, and we’ll share more soon,” Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told the BBC in what appears to be one of her only interviews from the biggest gaming convention of the year (we reported on previously released snippets from it earlier in the week). “We will of course continue to push the boundaries of performance. We’ve talked about being able to not only play your console games, but also play your PC games on your console.”
Sharma continued, “I think in addition all of the industry needs to start to innovate on affordability and efficiency. That is something that we have not had to do. But with the crisis that’s currently happening in hardware and components, it is absolutely something all of us need to be thinking about and innovating on and giving people more choice in terms of how they play their console and how they purchase their console.”
Could we get a Project Helix sequel to the Xbox Series S?
Xbox has been banging the drum of “affordability” for months now, even as it raises prices due to the AI arms race fueled by Microsoft. But the “family of devices” framing raises new questions about whether Xbox’s next-gen plans are for a single console or multiple form factors. Could that mean it decides to continue the work it started with the Xbox Series S of offering a cheaper, less powerful alternative? Or is it hinting at a new portable PC gaming device that’s more closely integrated into the Xbox architecture than Asus’ Xbox Ally handhelds? Rumors have pointed to Sony pursuing a handheld version of the PlayStation 6. Have rising component costs and a new leadership team pushed Microsoft to re-evaluate its own previously shelved plans for an Xbox handheld?
How is Xbox thinking about exclusivity when it comes to The Elder Scrolls 6?
Elsewhere in the interview, Sharma was prodded about the company’s evolving philosophy around exclusive games. Here’s the full exchange:
The BBC: I guess how do you decide which game should be exclusive to Xbox? You know, is Elder Scrolls 6 for example, is that the kind of game–you smile there because you know that this is one that a lot of people are asking about.
Sharma: I thought you were going to ask me what the asterisk is. Like what the actual [title is]. Look, I think that I think we are one of the largest publishers in the world. We are increasingly going to be one of the largest platforms in the world. Every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences and content. And so what we’ve shared is Gears and Clockwork. We’re going to do the best we can to continue to do that, all in the context of the business being healthy, and so we have to balance that.
The BBC: And Elder Scrolls 6, what are you thinking about that with exclusivity? Is that a priority?
Sharma: It’s a beautiful game.
Forza Horizon 6 for PS5 seemingly delayed
It’s long seemed untenable for Xbox to grow its footprint with some small annual exclusives while continuing to make the bulk of its most popular IP–like Minecraft, Forza Horizon, and Fallout–available everywhere. At the same time, the rising cost of developing blockbuster games has incentivized getting as many sales as possible across as many platforms as possible. The big test of whether Xbox is still serious about the console as the center of its gaming platform will be whether The Elder Scrolls 6 goes multiplatform. Sharma’s predecessor, Phil Spencer, previously claimed that it was economically viable to make it exclusive.
I’m not expecting to see Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 in 2026 https://t.co/rpOO47WmF8
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) August 27, 2026
In the meantime, Xbox already seems to be reversing course on some of its earlier promises. Forza Horizon 6 was originally set to have a limited exclusivity window before coming to PlayStation 5 this year. Now insiders are claiming that the port is delayed and unlikely to show up until 2027. Given the success of the game, could Sharma decide to pull the plug on it and move it over to Sony’s platform altogether? For now, even if Xbox knows the answers to those questions, it’s not ready to share them.
