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It’s well known that each platform focuses heavily on exclusive games and their respective DLC, a delight to many of the system owners and a curse to those cut off from potentially enjoying what the game has to offer. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has spoken out against the idea of exclusivity, while also addressing the company’s own hand in the matter.
Spencer let the news slip when speaking with GameSpot at the Brazil Game Show, stating that he knows people ridicule him for addressing the matter, but he really doesn’t like the idea of any company holding exclusives and preventing other platforms from having access to specific items, levels or otherwise.
I don't love the idea or practice of us paying so other platforms can't play or use a certain gun in a game or do a certain level,” Spencer explained. “I know I say that and, Xbox history–DLC exclusivity windows with Call of Duty–I understand the fingers are pointing right back to Xbox. I can only be who I am. It's not the best PR answer. But I don't like that.”
It’s no surprise that he feels this way given that he’s the man that’s brought about Microsoft’s Play Anywhere initiative and been in favour of cross compatibility and cross platform play for quite some time now. That being said, Xbox is still going after exclusive deals with one of the most notable in recent months being its partnership with developers Bluehole and its smash hit title PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds as well as StudioMHR’s critically acclaimed Cuphead.
Unfortunately for Spencer, this paints him in a bad light. People automatically flock to the thought of Xbox doing in solely to drive its own platform, but Spencer assures that isn’t the case at all and it’s simultaneously to build the best possible game it can be. While PUBG might not fit this description like a glove, Cuphead does. Microsoft poured funding into an indie title that likely wouldn’t have become what it is known as today without that support. In this case, it’s very much the idea of a specific set of players getting to enjoy the wonders of Cuphead, or no one getting to enjoy it.
It’s fair to say that Spencer’s hands are also tied in a business sense, in that as underhanded as practices can be, if they are commonplace in the respective industry then opting out of them on the basis of morals could place the platform at a severe disadvantage. Considering Spencer is dedicated to opening the Xbox platform up as much as possible as well as support content creators, streamers and media enthusiasts, it’s similarly fair to say that the company tries to change these practices where it can while not throwing itself under the bus.
Business practices are changing and need to change. As Spencer says: “Getting caught in a definition of gaming that's about me trying to do everything I can to get you to buy one specific device to play one specific variant of games, is not really about growing the business.”
KitGuru Says: This isn’t me justifying the idea of exclusives, nor convince those who are against the practice to accept it, but I feel that Spencer gives a good understanding of the industry in its current state and how the company is really trying to take a progressive approach nowadays. Whether it will fully work or not remains to be seen as most initiatives are only about a year old or in conceptual stages, but it’s nice to see a company openly trying. What are your thoughts on the matter?
Come on he saying this from the point that they have nothing to show.
Exclusives suck and are inherently consumer unfriendly. You are limited in your enjoyment by the platform you buy or the money you have. I get it means competitiveness, but other media devices don’t deal with exclusives and still have competition. Sony wants to invest in a game? Go ahead, and then launch it for other devices so you can make even more noney.
there is no way for a console to promote itself without exclusives. It have always being this way.
We got nintendo to play super mario and we got sega to play sonic, it was always this way.
Also sony will definitely make more money by selling more consoles than selling their games to other platforms. More devices = more game sales = more money from what they take from developers to have their games in this platform. So they make money for every game that will ever sell for their device and collectively it is way more than selling to other platforms.
Also think about that, why to buy a PS4 if I can have all it’s games on my pc anyway? I will not!
(I don’t, but I know a lot of people who play in pc and get 1-2 consoles for the exclusives)
“It’s always been this way” is not an argument, it’s just an observation. We never let women vote, until we did. A bad system does not become a good system, just because it’s what we know.
Why buy a PS4? Why buy any product really? Because it offers certain features that its competitors do not. Why buy a GTX 1050 instead of an RX560 (or vice versa). Why buy a Nikon if you can take pictures with a Canon (or your iPhone for that matter).
Even if consoles did not have exclusives, they would still offer benefits to developers and therefore to consumers. A fixed configuritation makes development easier. And some games will work better on console X than they will work on console Y, just as some games work better with an Nvidia card than an AMD and vice versa. But exclusives just take the option to play the game away from consumers.
Exclusives are bad for consumers; they don’t increase choice, they limit it. I’m baffled by how easy people accept it in the console world, only to subsequently rage about having to pay 10 a month for Netflix, HBO, and Hulu (and soon Disney) if they want to be able to see all the shows they like.
I really don’t see why to get a console if you take exclusives out of the equation. Development wise I can’t say, my experience is limited, but in a consumer prospective I know that most houses have a pc already and many people work with a pc, so they are familiar with the machine and one way or another they already have one, or they can justify to get one if it can cover and the gaming side of their life. If you have a good enough pc those days you are usually just a mid range GPU away from a good gaming experience.
Also there are a lot of +++ to go with a PC, the ability to play virtually any game you ever bought is one and the more open nature of a pc is another. I can write a long list with picks on why a pc is a better choice but the more fundamental point is that the consoles no longer are plug n play and steam’s big picture mode make pc gaming a console gaming experience if the user prefer that.
I loved how I was able to get a disc in my PSX and just play but this is no longer the case. You need to install, to update etc before you can play.
Console companies do know that, they are not mindless fanboys, and they seek reasons to make you buy their hardware.