Exclusives are a GOOD thing and without it, gaming would be WORSE off.

[gurf]

You laugh but locked down platforms are always the least consumer friendly.

as opposed to locked down streaming services?

 

[The Wolf Among You]

No. Exclusives only benefit the platform holders.
That said, I enjoy gaming exclusivity. I like that each platform has a distinct identity in what they offer.
That’s why I’m disappointed to see Xbox wave the white flag rather than sit down and reinvent themselves and establish a new identity.

 

[cyndaquil]

Y'all are naive as fukk if you think gaming is going to turn into some single plane market where everyone will be at their creative best releasing things across all platforms in harmony.

Sony. Nintendo. Xbox. PC.
Long ago, the four gaming platforms lived together in harmony.
Then, everything changed when the exclusives attacked.

Only Steam, master of cross-platform access, cloud saves, and endless sales, could unite them all.
But when the world needed it most… it was stuck in Early Access.

Years passed, and a new generation of gamers rose — digging through backlogs, refunding games under 2 hours, and surviving launch-day bugs.

But hope returned, when we discovered a platform powerful enough to handle mods, memes, and 500 GB day-one patches.

Its name… was Steam.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

as opposed to locked down streaming services?

Most streaming services are tied to something else.

Xbox streaming service is just a perk for buying games in the xbox store.

It gives you more ways to access your purchased content not less.

 

[CoolinInTheCut]

Exclusives are so good that Sony is even letting PC have them in a year

 

[rdj]

Just to make it clear I’m not a games should be everywhere person. I bought a ps5 at the beginning of the gen to play the exclusives. I own a switch 1. Will get switch 2 once more games i’m interested in show up. PS5 collecting dust due to a combination of the sequels to my favorite ps4 games are not hitting as hard for me and they will eventually end up on PC. The Gamestop trade-in deal for ps5 pro during days of play was tempting though.

 

[The Mad Titan]

Exclusives are needed, but mostly to show what 1st party teams can do knowing the in's and out of the hardware.

And back in the back so you could get people to buy software so you could make money back off the hardware.


Exclusives are needed now for the same reason to show the difference in hardware when optimized for it.

The way Sony has been getting exclusives was never healthy for the industry. Being like, "hey we want that, don't put it over there and don't allow cross play with the other console.."is not a good thing, a few times here and there sure. But when your game plan is denial of everything that looks like it might be good and denial of people playing together...yeah no.


Now we are at a point with tech where people want stuff seamless, and games and hardware cost that bread to make and buy.


Gaming is not better because of exclusives, that's like saying the soft drink industry is better because Pepsi and Coca-Cola have exclusive drinks in certain parts of the world and areas.

 

[Hopeofmypeople]

If you don’t have exclusives then it will boil down to what system is the most powerful because if I can own said console and get the same games as the competitor won’t I just buy the more powerful machine. Exclusives will never die as long as competition exists in the console market.


It is the only way to stand out from your competitors.