Do you think console exclusives are unfair?

[MrDawn]

Do you think console exclusives are unfair and punish players for their choice of console?

 

[Uncrowned]

I think they are both. They are unfair in some sense, mostly when a non-exclusive becomes and exclusive. But overall, I would say they are good for gaming as they push the funding from the big tech giants back into the market to try and make better games, even if the reasoning is all wrong.

 

[Crys]

I think it sucks especially when you see a really good game but find out said game is for a console you might not have. I'm on the fence about it being unfair because this is how companies make their money. They've always competed with one another to bring out the best product and of course gamers are going to spend that money. Overall it is annoying. There were a couple of games that only came to Xbox 360 that I wish were available on PlayStation that's one of the reasons why I got a series x, to be able to play them again.

 

[Moonface]

Generally no. The only time I've ever disliked exclusives is in cases like the Tomb Raider 2013 reboot trilogy, where TR2013 was on all systems, but then Rise of the Tomb Raider was initially shown as being an Xbox exclusive when it was first announced. It felt like a massive slap in the face to anyone who supported the reboot, especially when it didn't sell poorly and actually sold better on other platforms such as PS4. Even when it came out later it was just timed, I didn't like that Square Enix just chased after a bag of money for timed exclusivity that locked out more players than not. Even if it had been PS4 exclusive I'd have still questioned it unless it had sold so poorly on other platforms that it just wasn't financially viable to develop for those platforms too, but that wasn't the case here.

Bayonetta on the other hand is something that was multi-platform and is now a Nintendo exclusive, and that's because Bayonetta 2 wouldn't even exist if Nintendo didn't fund it. That makes sense and even if it sucks for anyone who doesn't own a Nintendo console, there's no point complaining about not being able to play Bayonetta 2 or 3 when if they weren't on Nintendo systems they wouldn't be on anything at all, so you'd still be without those games on your non-Nintendo system.

Exclusives also sell consoles and fund first-party development. How Sony handles their first-party exclusives compared to Microsoft is why I think Xbox Series X is falling incredibly far behind the PS5 in sales, because money coming in from Game Pass has to be spread out considerably more than sales Sony gets from copies of first-party exclusives that aren't available in a subscription service.

 

[PGen98]

I don't think they're unfair so much as antiquated. It's great we've got cross-console play for games these days, but IMO it won't be long before consoles themselves are out of the picture and we're all onto PC gaming full time. It's why I don't see anything wrong with Microsoft buying as many studios as they have been, they're essentially putting themselves in line to be the next Valve with a Steam-like distribution platform for when their Xbox consoles are no longer necessary. Makes business sense, own what you publish.

 

[Nebulous]

Do you think console exclusives are unfair and punish players for their choice of console?

I think they think of it as an incentive to get people to buy their console. They aren't really punishing anyone because anyone can save up and buy the console they need to play the game.