As we all know by now, Microsoft has well and truly moved into new times with its multiplatform push in recent years; involving Nintendo and Sony systems in its plan to put Xbox games everywhere. While this is proving to be a bold new step for Team Green, it does seem to be a trend that's taking hold of the wider industry too - and a well-known reporter thinks this is starting to become the norm.
In a reaction to news of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth selling extremely well on Steam, Jason Schreier suggests that "console exclusives will become obsolete soon, especially for third-party". The Bloomberg reporter also mentions that the Valve PC platform "has become a bright spot for many game makers as console sales have flattened".
On the Xbox side of things, console sales have more than flattened - they've started to massively decrease in recent times. Year-on-year, Microsoft is selling a lot less consoles nowadays — up to 50% less than the previous year in certain regions — and other console makers are also suffering at the moment. It makes sense then, that in tough economic conditions, game devs are starting to put their games on as many platforms as possible.
Anyway, we know this viewpoint is starting to become increasingly common, but we thought it was interesting to hear from such a big voice in the behind-the-scenes reporting scene. Schreier likely has more of an idea of what some of these game devs are truly going through right now, and it sounds like a push towards more multiplatform releases is going to become the norm in gaming for the foreseeable future.
How do you feel about these new comments from Jason? Agree with his stance? Talk to us down in the comments.
Comments 52
We'll see, but I'll believe it when Sony starts putting more games on Xbox. Which I don't see happening.
Edit: I added the word "more" because Sony already puts MLB The Show on Xbox.
This depends on one thing.
Which makes them the most money.
Does Sony/MS paying for the exclusive give the developers more time to focus one console then move to the next, make a better release and more money. - does it create more hype for a pc/other console release? (Does Sony money cover the ‘expected sales on Xbox for instance?’)
Or does spreading thinner, port for 2/3 at once potentially need more staff during development lead to more overall sales? Would a poor release hurt things more?
Far more to it than what is said here. And they all have the data.
On the plus side, as always he has a 50/50 chance of being right!
Xbox is right to go this route, as long as they keep making consoles, which I don’t see as becoming obsolete anytime soon (the cloud will probably take over at some point, though). Some gamers underestimate people choosing consoles over PC due to the sheer convenience, simplicity and price factors. Yes, console game sales have stalled in recent months in comparison to PC (Steam especially) but this has a lot to do with people moving to PC via Steam Deck or other handheld PCs. In short, I don’t see the Fifa and CoD crowd ditching consoles for PCs in the near future.
Yep, Xbox console sales are falling through the floor and I’m not sure Xbox even want to sell their own consoles when you read stuff like this
https://wccftech.com/xbox-europe-marketing-lead-complains-theyre-getting-much-fewer-funds-compared-to-playstation/
It’s why when I hear about Xbox Prime I now roll my eyes, I don’t believe Microsoft has any enthusiasm for the console market going forward - it’s gamepass and becoming a powerful third party publisher that’s clearly the future to them.. and maybe they are right? Ahead of the curve? Who knows.
I will forever say the Series X is a great machine, and yes game pass a brilliant deal for the most part. I just wish the SX had been successful lol. Ah well at least in 2025 we finally seem to be getting a year of significant Microsoft studio releases, chin up and all that. Oh Fable… please don’t suck 😂🙏🏼
I can totally see Sony putting some games on the Switch 2. I can't even imagine how much Spider-Man and Horizon could sell over there. On Xbox I can see much more resistance, but Xbox games are selling well on PS and they could eventually drop their guard.
What I don't see is Nintendo changing their tune. If anything, they'll benifit so much this upcoming gen of their, they'll be set.
I'm so glad to hear that Rebirth has done well on PC as I heard sales were underwhelming on console.
I think that’s sort of a reactionary take to things, in my opinion. Say what you will, but 2024 wasn’t exactly brimming with games that the public was excited about purchasing. It was a down year last year for all platforms. I know many gamers that dropped into the single digits with the amount of games they purchased last year. And let’s be real… Xbox didn’t engage with providing strong games enough to have their fanbase invested this generation. If we want to see if this is truly the path forward, let’s see how things look when we’ve got Switch 2 out and likely exhuming physical game sales, as well as the cinematic first party Sony releases like Ghost and Intergalactic. It’s hard to argue that exclusivity is dead based on one game. More metrics are needed to quantify that claim and we’ll see whether this is true or not toward the end of this year. I’m guessing that analysts will be shocked when exclusives sell well this year.
For 3rd parties I absolutely see this to be true.
There is no sense in limiting your market for a quick pay day when there is other big piles of cash out there!
It going to happen more and more. Development costs are getting ridiculous and you're having to millions of copies just to break even. You then have a further 5 years making your new game that has to do even better as during that time costs have gone up even more. Nintendo might get away with it because their games are consistent sellers and don't cost quite so much to make, but third party switch games don't do those massive numbers so very few will be exclusive. Sony is also in a strong position but they are putting much more out on PC, and a couple more Concords might push them even further.
I still think console exclusives will exist, just less so than before.
Some of that is down to logistics like team sizes, development time and budgets but I think there will still also be a demand from platform holders, primarily Sony & Nintendo to bulk out their first party lineup, but also for Microsoft to do the same with Game Pass.
3rd parties, mostly all release multiplatform. So this really isn't anything new, they been doing it for many years. Maybe there will be less exclusive deals going forward. It'll just depend on the offers made to the devs as it always has been. Sony will not release their games on Xbox. They'll just continue releasing the to PC after X amount of time. Doesn't make sense for Sony to start releasing their exclusives to Xbox. Considering the PS5 is out selling the series S/X by quite a bit. MS are releasing games on the PS5 because they need to make money. Gamepass and selling on the series S/X and PC isn't enough for them. After buying Activision, the spotlight is on them and they need to keep growing and making more and more money for the shareholders.
Microsoft won't be getting any third-party exclusives, @PsBoxSwitchOwner, especially not AAA ones. I mean, what's the point in having third-party exclusives when you don't even have first-party ones because you are putting them all on your biggest rivals platform...?
I agree, @Isolte.
Sony are only putting some of their content on other platforms (not Xbox!) and then only after a year or more of exclusivity, with the exception being live service games. Sony are doing this because they want to recoup the expense involved in making their games, but understand that exclusives do sell consoles. Sony likely will still get some third-party exclusives but only if their pockets are deep enough, though I do see this trend dying out for them.
Microsoft, on the other hand, are only pursuing third-party publisher status because their console business is failing, and Game Pass cannibalises sales. They have to put their games on the PlayStation as soon as possible simply because they need the money the games that selling their brings in in order to keep the likes of Game Pass sustainable.
The reasons for Sony and Microsoft doing this differ, though it still comes down to money at the end of the day. Sony are more or less choosing to do this, whilst Microsoft have too...
@LostInBlue0 The Double Pack going for something like $57 on Green Man Gaming certainly sweetened the pot for me to double dip on PC (I had the PlayStation versions already).
That's $28.50 per game! Crazy good deal.
Playing Final Fantasy VII Remake at 1440p/120fps feels amazing - plus I had no idea that a "Head Start" option was added where characters are leveled up to 45 with some Max Materia to boot. It was a perfect way to pick up my 3rd playthrough of Remake.
I'll dive into Rebirth again once I finish Remake. Besides, it seems like it could use a patch or two to button up some lingering issues.
Unless Sony has locked up the entire series as a timed exclusive, I really hope Part 3 is a Day 1 PC release.
On topic: Unfortunately, I am sure Sony will continue to spend money on third-party exclusives for the foreseeable future - at least third-party exclusives that only exclude Xbox. Sadly, with the delta between PlayStation and Xbox continuing to grow, it's kind of an easy decision for developers to make.
But I do see things changing where even third-party console exclusives will have a Day 1 release on PC at the minimum.
The best thing Microsoft can do is to somehow make the next console a PC, but with a console experience that can also run console versions of legacy titles. It opens up the possibilities of viable games for the system as well as deflates Sony's business practices because, while Sony can lock up the console space by being the market leader, it can't touch the PC market.
Trust me guys exclusives are obsolete, the Cuphead tutorial is really difficult, Godhand sucks, and Deigon age:failguard isn’t going to kill BioWare as a company! Trust me I’m a journalist!
Personally, I don't see Xbox continuing in the console business after the next generation, @gollumb82, and I am only 90% certain that there will be a next generation.
The crunch moment for that decision will come when Steam release their console. If it is a device that rivals the PS5 and the Series X, at a comparable price, offering the convenience of consoles whilst also offering full access to Steam, then I can see Xbox calling it day.
What I can see Xbox doing though, is licensing out their OS to third-parties enabling them to make their own hybrid Xbox/PC, with anything from budget to very not budget consoles...
Honestly at this point, Xbox should just go full 3rd party and release everything on PC, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo as well as Xbox consoles .
@Fiendish-Beaver
Personally, it would work for me. I will admit I am curious about those consoles from Valve (used to own a Steam Deck OLED and quite liked it) but knowing Valve they will be underpowered from the start (much like Steam Deck) to keep the price down. A Steam Deck with enough chops to compete with the big boys that I can treat like a console would be something I’d really consider buying.
@Fiendish-Beaver the XboxEra take was that they would do this (plus their own hardware) and rather than strike deals with Epic/Steam/GoG etc. for a cut of sales they just leave things open as is on PC, but make the Xbox OS and ecosystem class-leading.
I would bleddy love that to happen.
More and more people are seeing the light. Making games exclusive to one platform is awful for everyone. Get as many people playing your games as possible.
Buying this platform to play these games and that platform to play those games can't end soon enough. It is decades overdue.
I'm with you, @gollumb82. If Steam were to put out a console at £500-£600 that matches the Series X (or preferably surpasses it) then I would buy it without hesitation. For something truly powerful, I would spend more.
I do actually own a decent gaming PC that cost me over £3000, but I don't really enjoy the experience when compared to the convenience of gaming on a console...
My issue is, @Coletrain, that I don't think their is enough sales (and thus cash) in it for Microsoft to keep making consoles. If the Prime exists, then maybe they will keep pushing that one out for a decade or more, but I cannot see them making another console after that. Then it will be about licensing their OS...
@Fiendish-Beaver well I think the concept is absent of traditional sales. So in effect MS would sell Prime at a profit and even if it only sells 5m it wouldn't matter because Asus or Dell or whoever would effectively be selling the same thing with a different cover.
I'm in total agreement with you (both now and on past threads) that a more powerful series X just does nothing for MS in a closed ecosystem. But if MS can pull off an open console it'll stop people like me going full PC gaming, which I don't massively want to do!
I feel we’ve been told this for a decade and so far the only one that has given up is Xbox.
You know what you guys’s issue is, Mob Mentality, and if it goes go against the current mentality, people who their own take is considered the enemy, even you’re not aware of it
I don't think it is so much as 'seeing the light', @BacklogBrad, as it is about money.
For Microsoft, it is about making money on the PlayStation because Game Pass cannibalises sales, and their business is failing on the console side of the business.
For Sony, it is about selling their games on the PC after a year or more of exclusivity because they know that exclusives attract people into their ecosystem. However, the costs of making games is such that they also need to sell the game on the PC, but only once sales on the PS5 are low enough that putting them on the PC won't hurt sales on the PS5.
For third-party developers, it is about putting their games on as many platforms as possible so as to make as much money as possible. What I think this means in reality, is that third-party developers will be much more reluctant to sign an exclusivity deal with Sony that does not include PC, and that Sony will be more reluctant to sign exclusivity deals that are not entirely exclusive to their platform. The upshot being that there will be fewer third-party exclusives on the PlayStation, but there will still be some...
@Isolte right, I don't really think either will unless they feel they have to. Tbh, MS probably initially felt they had to, not just because they are a software company first and that is their general business model, but for legal reasons.
Well I’ll believe it when I see it. Wake me up when I can play Stellar Blade on Xbox.
Good move by Square Enix, abandoning Sony's deals, as expected. Not only console exclusives are ending, but the future might lack competing consoles, with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo having their own stores available on PC-like consoles, handhelds and cloud devices. Yes, it might take a long while, but console sales have flattened already and the console wars are not compatible with the current reality. They can exist indefinitely, but not as walled gardens. Only Nintendo can afford that and only if they can keep development cheap and sales consistently high, something they don't always achieve.
The console market is profitable, yes, but development is expensive, for Microsoft and Sony especially, and both of them need the support of PC sales, so they are multiplatform already. Nintendo doesn't need anything, but the development for Switch has been cheap, often peanuts, and the sales of their last console have been unusually high, with a Mario Kart port selling 64m copies.
When we see impressive shipped consoles numbers, it's often the same owners/families having multiple units, and the money is not made selling consoles, but with subscriptions and software sales, with only a couple of games having a high adoption rate on any console, and many of them being third-party. This generation is a turning point.
Easy for the MS camp to want as MS is rich. Both Sony and Nintendo are mostly hardware companies at their core. So they need people to have a reason to buy their hardware. And software does this. Those two companies cannot afford to be liberal with their IPs like MS.
@Coletrain Yep, the problem with Xbox is already solved. They are multiplatform, all games are on PC on day one. Windows PC is the biggest gaming market, excluding the casual mobile market. Microsoft is a hardware and software company. They make Xbox and they make Surface. They own Windows. They are already where they needed to be. They don't need to sell a lot of consoles, they are selling something else: Game Pass, cross-buy, cross-save, a Windows ecosystem with a gaming interface that they are developing for computers and handhelds, on top of consoles. They could sell Steam, Asus or Lenovo hardware numbers and everything would be all right. The only requirement is not selling hardware at a loss, something that the rest of companies are not willing to do either. As a publisher and ecosystem, they couldn't be in a better position.
@Banjo- yes, and steam is a good model to follow. The new "console war" might just end up being Steam/Linux vs. Xbox/MS OS 🤣
It's mainly a problem for PlayStation because they make very few first-party games (remakes aside), limited by the small number of studios, and third-party publishers are increasingly reluctant to make exclusive games. This means that in the long run, they will have very few exclusives. The advantage of Xbox is that the games belong to them, so they can decide whether to make a game exclusive or multiplatform. PlayStation doesn't have this luxury because they rely on third-party publishers for 90% of their exclusives. On the other hand, if PS wants revenue, they are forced to go multiplatform. Ps Gamers don't buy their own exclusive games, just look at astrobot , even FH5, a 4 years old games, will outsales astrobot, LOL.
Completely agree with him. Exclusives will be a thing of the past by the end of next gen - as the market continues to evolve and become ridiculously more expensive.
@BacklogBrad When you say more and more people, do you mean just MS because they have no other choice? Or were they clueless for the last couple of decades but suddenly figured it all out once their sales dried up? Don't imagine Nintendo or Sony agreeing with this idea anytime soon. Especially Nintendo. They are doing better than they ever have so seeing the light for them is probably staying more exclusive than ever?
@StonyKL Sony MIGHT put some of their games on Switch 2 but I don't see them putting it on Xbox. Unless if its one of those 3rd party exclusives.
@gollumb82 maybe i live under a rock , but i swear it seems like i see more & more people jumping on PC these days . even on twitch , virtually every game that isn’t a (modern) nintendo exclusive has the first several rows of people playing these games on PC.
Helldivers 2 for example has way more players on PC than console & that’s a sony IP
Nintendo somehow makes it work
@nomither6
It seems to be the case, yes. I do believe handheld PCs are at least partly responsible for this as this gaming segment is really booming right now. I definitely prefer the convenience of console gaming but if the new Steam console is just like a Steam Deck, but more powerful and stationary I might just get it and ditch consoles in the long run.
Hmm, one perspective being offered here only?
PS5 sales continue to track ahead of PS4 which is a decent performance.
Whilst Microsoft hardware sales have tanked, that's not true in the blue corner and I do not expect to see Sony's games on other systems, as that's how they sell hardware. Whilst the figures from last year appear to show a drop, that's only in comparison to the year before which had seen a massive spike. Microsoft always had a multi format policy as they have always committed to selling on PC
People mention 'MLB the show', but that was dictated by the IP holder and Sony no showed no signs of putting it elsewhere until they were told to.
Whilst I can play games anywhere they are published, I'd still rather MS and Sony had some exclusives to help promote their own hardware and give their platforms a distinct 'flavour'. Microsoft has always been Halo and Forza flavoured for me, and I wish that were still the case.
I already don't buy consoles based on exclusivity. Sony rarely releases anything interesting to me anyway. With my Xbox and PC, I can play 95% of released games anyway. As if FOMO is a factor when it comes to Astrobot. Lmao.
@Titntin Well, Microsoft still releases Halo and Forza...Lol. Both of which aren't on Playstation.
@Banjo- I wish people had your logic. People like to act like Microsoft has failed, but the thing is, I can play Halo or Forza on my PHONE without an Xbox. Know who has a phone? Absolutely everyone. Microsoft has the potential to make money off people with a phone, and that's millions upon millions of people. Sony can only generate revenue based on people who own a Playstation.
@OriginalDrGonzo thanks for pointing that out - I do have GPU on my series X so I am aware 😁
As for Forza not being on Playstation, are you not aware that Forza 5 is being released very shortly? Its official and everything!
I'm glad Microsoft gaming fits all your needs, but as a console only player I'm worried I might not be able to justify a new MS console to my wife, who can't stand the pads and would far rather we bought everything on PS.
I'm hoping that the next hardware from MS is a TV PC... I'd be all over that.
Have a great one 👍
@gollumb82 i agree & prefer console as well. which is why i use my pc just like one with a controller. pc has came a long way, times really are changing
@OriginalDrGonzo Right, like I said, they are selling an ecosystem and they have everything to make it work, on top of being the top publisher now. As you can probably tell, most of these "concerns" are actually fake and don't come from Xbox gamers.
Not for Nintendo they won't.
I'm not surprised the Xbox isn't selling £480 to play games I can already play on my Xbox One not to mention a dashboard full of ads
Technically they're all computers so the only difference a console makes is if it has unique features that enhance the experience: Xbox with Kinect, Wii with motion controls, DS with two screens, Switch with home & on the go functionality, etc. I'm all for hardware enabling games for bespoke experiences and also having easy development for more mainstream gaming. Having fewer consoles also makes development easier for devs
@Dampsponge I didn't really think about it but you're totally right about the ads. At the very least remove them for paid subscribers to any version of Game pass
@OriginalDrGonzo PlayStation has PS Remote Play, think they've had some variation of it since PS3, for sure PS4. Xbox has the nice mobile controls but I remember reading somewhere they're having a hard time breaking into the market for mobile gamers with their Xbox app. Obviously with ABK their mobile games are making bank but don't think a lot of people are flocking to pay for GPU for a laggy experience. My hope is with the new AppStore rules, Microsoft rebrands their mobile gaming division so you can "buy PC games on your phone" via the Microsoft game store app and it adds all the game pass stuff there for us legacy console players to take advantage of while drawing in new players. I would like the option to download games locally rather than stream even if it's at suboptimal graphics settings just to have less latency. I own the Kishi peripheral and a controller adapter but just haven't had the next experience on GPU on my phone from my personal experience. I am glad to hear it works well for you, sounds like a fun time if it's a smooth experience
Good, I am planning on just sticking to PC gaming once this gen is over. Done with consoles after this outside of Switch 2, but that's looking like sort of an odd between generations console sort of like a Dreamcast only it's a Switch.
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