Developers Still Struggling With Xbox Series S as Microsoft Reconsiders Exclusives

The gaming business is set to enter one of its busiest periods of the year, but there are already quite a few huge tales floating about before the new news comes in. Gamers have had a busy week, with the ongoing identity crisis at Microsoft over Xbox exclusives, new news on Subnautica 2, and more and more indicators that we’ll get a look at Persona 6; publishers and developers are giving us a lot to talk about.

Xbox is one of the most talked-about subjects — and whether Microsoft’s long-term strategy of releasing games across platforms has made its own ecosystem less enticing. More and more debate is happening about what makes Xbox hardware special in today's market after Microsoft started making more of its own games available on other systems.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently remarked that the studio is considering how exclusivity would play into its plans.

This has given the talk new life. “ Microsoft is struggling to be a major publisher of games and at the same time build up Xbox as a stronger platform,” Sharma said at an event hosted by Bloomberg.

'Microsoft wants its games played by as many people as possible, but the business also realizes that for a platform to be successful, it needs to provide gamers stuff and services that they can't get anywhere else,’ Sharma explains. The statements are seen by many as a sign that Xbox might be rethinking aspects of the plan advocated by Phil Spencer, the firm's former CEO.

Sharma did not specify what adjustments would be made, but her comments come as Microsoft is publishing more games for PlayStation and Nintendo hardware in addition to Xbox systems. At the same time, the Xbox ecosystem still has hardware limitations.

Game developers are increasingly blaming the Xbox Series S for being a pain in the ass to get games to users. Moon Studios, the developers behind No Rest for the Wicked, just revealed that the final 1.0 release of the game will come in October 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC. But still no release dates for Xbox and Switch 2.

“The Series S has been a big problem for us,” Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios, told the outlet.

He stated the team hopes to release the Xbox version after it’s fully polished, putting it on par with the planned Switch 2 release. Mahler joked that the Series S's specs are starting to resemble those of mobile devices, a concern since the console was first announced. Developers have repeatedly noted that Microsoft’s policy of offering the same features across the Series X and Series S can make development more difficult and delay releases.

Despite these concerns, however, Sharma remains optimistic about the future of Xbox. She said the firm has already reversed an eight-month decline in Game Pass membership in her first 100 days as CEO, and that she believes Xbox is regaining its mojo. Sharma said that in the last 100 days, the business has shipped more than it did all of last year.

But industry insiders are still debating whether Microsoft should double down on exclusives, or continue the wide-ranging multiplatform strategy. Sony is also under fire in several areas, and some experts suggest that Xbox would perform better with openness and lower costs than with content restricted to a single ecosystem.

Microsoft talks about its platform strategy, but it looks like Valve is making progress toward its next hardware objectives.

Both the long-rumored Steam Machine and Steam Frame VR headset are still on track for a summer 2026 release, the company says. Valve announced the upgrade at the same time it was adding support for both devices to its testing program.

Valve said that games that run well on Steam Deck should run just as well on the new Steam Machine with little or no more work. The disclosure provides players a better notion of when the game will release, but major questions remain. And most significantly, Valve still hasn’t announced the price.

Initial projections pegged the Steam Machine at about $700 at launch, but rising costs of tech components had many wondering whether the eventual retail price could be substantially higher. Memory prices have soared over the past year, with supply lines still restricted by demand from AI infrastructure and data centers.

Now, people who follow the industry think the system might easily cost more than originally estimated.” Some even think the price could exceed $1,000, given the final features and production costs. Valve hasn’t yet directly addressed those concerns.

Meanwhile, Unknown Worlds continues to build on the initial success of Subnautica 2. "More than four million people have already played the sequel of underwater survival during its early access period," the developer told the press. Now with a lot of backing, developers are taking a good look at what's next.

Design lead Anthony Gallegos said that the team is working on a variety of adjustments to improve the game. More early game biome options, more passive slots, adjustments to the Rex system, and updates to make it easier for players to grasp why parasites are hostile in blight encounters are among them.

And co-op games are receiving new features, too. “The plan is to add proximity voice chat, more customization options for characters and emotes, all of which will enhance the multiplayer experience.”

The first large content update for the game will include a whole new area focused around the Collector Leviathan, and this may be the most intriguing thing about it.

The update also adds new animals, items, and story content for players to explore. Unknown Worlds also teased the release of a new chassis system, which they said was among the most requested improvements from players. Sounds like the players might finally get the long-awaited mech-like automobile, based on what the dev team has revealed.

And another huge stride forward in quality of life is being made. The studio behind the game expects future updates to work with existing save data. This way players don't have to restart every time there is new major material. The devs have issued another warning about the next update: it may be the most terrifying version of Subnautica 2 ever.

Just when you thought this week couldn’t get any bigger, Persona 6 rumors started going crazy all over the internet again. The latest wave of suspicions began when images of character art and branding, including a green Persona 6 logo, were allegedly leaked online. The photographs were soon shared on social media and fan groups before being taken down.

Some Persona-related sources suggest that an external animation company provided the footage, which was later authenticated by several high-profile members of the community. When Sega didn't say anything, the leak became a story, a significant topic of discourse.

The pics were alleged to have been subject to copyright takedown requests, leading many to believe the publisher was trying to remove real assets before the public announcement, since they had been uploaded multiple times. Fans have long believed that stringent copyright enforcement was one of the best ways to tell whether information shared was legitimate.

These incidents simply made matters worse.

With the Summer Game Fest and Xbox Games Showcase taking place back to back, many fans are already speculating that an official announcement of Persona 6 could be right around the corner. Whether the game will be released this weekend or later in the year remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: fans are more excited than ever for Atlus’ next blockbuster RPG.

Microsoft, Valve, Unknown Worlds and Sega are all crucial to discussions that might influence the next few months as the games industry moves into a summer of trade events. The next few weeks are full of significant releases from the gaming industry, including big-name platform strategy games, new hardware, survival game expansions, and one of the most sought-after sequels in the industry's history.