Console Exclusives Dead?

Do exclusives matter anymore? Not according to Xbox President, Sarah Bond. In an interview with Mashable, she discusses the future of Xbox and its exclusives or lack of when building towards the future.

We’ve seen the shift first-hand as Xbox has opened up their library of first party titles to other platforms. With Gears, Forza Horizon, Sea of Thieves, among others joining the PlayStation and Nintendo ecosystem. According to Xbox, this makes sense, business sense moving forward. Though we have begun to see PlayStation join the PC ecosystem, and most recently allow Helldivers 2 gain an install base on Xbox, though rare for PlayStation, it seems the future of exclusives has begun to loosen. However, don’t expect Insomniac’s Wolverine to launch on Xbox day one as well. PlayStation still holds their exclusives close to their chest.

Xbox is clearly the losing console. If Xbox was winning the console race, do you honestly think they would allow their first-party titles jump to their competitors' platforms? NO. Which is why PlayStation is still able to push an “exclusive title” like previous God of War titles, Spider-Man (both now on PC) and the upcoming Wolverine as an exclusive launch.

"We're really seeing people evolve way past [exclusives]," Bond said. "The biggest games in the world are available everywhere. You look at Call of Duty, you look at Minecraft, you look at Fortnite, you look at Roblox. That's actually what's really driving community in gaming. That's where people gather and they have experiences. And the idea of locking it to one store or one device is antiquated for most people."

It’s certainly an interesting time within our industry as companies look for new ways to captivate and hold their audience. Exclusives at one point were king, they were the primary reason why many purchased a PlayStation, Xbox or a Nintendo. But now, that’s becoming less of a factor for players.

What do you think? Do exclusives matter anymore? Is Sarah right in the Xbox approach to bringing games to where the players are, instead of locking them behind one’s platform? Let us know in the comments.