Console Exclusivity Is Evil But It’s Also Essential, Here’s Why

Console exclusivity has been a thing since the very first home-based gaming devices were revealed to the general public. Big manufacturers want consumers to buy their consoles, and the best advertising that they can use in such a situation is to provide a good lineup of games exclusive to their platform. This might seem like a bad idea from the perspective of a general gamer who wants games to be accessible and preserved.

But when you look at this opinion from a different angle, you’ll realize that it is basically a necessary evil in the console market since, without these exclusives, there would not have been enough competition in the market for PlayStation to produce something like God of War, for Xbox to come paired with something like Halo, and for Nintendo to dominate the market with amazing franchises like Mario or Zelda.

Nintendo Switch Dominating The Market

The Nintendo Switch isn’t even a direct competitor for the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S, yet it is still giving them a hard time in terms of overall sales. It actually beat both Sony and Microsoft in the gaming market until recently, when the PS5 took over the Switch. Even then, it still dominates on Microsoft’s latest console to this day, which says a lot when you realize how much older the Switch is than the Series X/S.

The Nintendo Switch Has Become The Best-Selling Console Of All Time In Japan
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The Switch’s hardware doesn’t even compare to the monstrous specifications of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. However, the lineup of exclusive games offered on this platform is the reason behind its success. People tend to purchase a console when they know that they’ll have special experiences with games that are offered nowhere else.

The best exclusives on the Switch
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Nintendo has almost never missed with the Switch, and each year, we end up seeing at least one Nintendo Switch game being nominated at The Game Awards. Even last year, there were two nominations in the GOTY category that were completely exclusive to the Nintendo Switch platform. This is what sells consoles as gamers will want to try out these games for themselves and that is where they’ll have to buy a Switch.

Sony’s PS5 Generation Analyzed

PS5 had a rough start with not nearly enough sales as well as exclusives. However, one of these two problems is now partially solved with the console recently attaining the top spot in terms of sales. But the issue of enough exclusives still plagues Sony’s latest console generation. The PS4 was an extremely successful product because it had a great lineup of exclusive games.

PS5 Was The Best Selling Console Of October 2023, Nintendo Switch Was Second And Xbox Series X|S Was Third
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The PS5 currently does not offer enough exclusives from first-party studios, which is why the console receives tough competition from the Nintendo Switch even though it is newer. There are some great games present on the platform, but most are available on the PS4 or PC due to Sony’s new support for PC ports, which can end up becoming a double-edged sword for the company.

Comment
byu/kvpop from discussion
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As a gamer, I love seeing these great PlayStation exclusives being available on PC and if the PC gamers like these titles, they’ll have to purchase the PS5 to play the eventual successors or sequels to these games. From the point of view of a corporation, this sounds like a great idea, but it hasn’t been very practical since games are getting ported to PC, but there is almost no new news regarding new exclusives for the PS5.

The Downfall Of Xbox

Microsft’s latest gen of Xbox consoles are actually at the worst spot sales-wise simply due to the the fact that there are almost no exclusives for these platforms. Microsoft is currently depending on subscription services instead of hardware sales to make a profit for this generation. It has come to the point where they have actually started releasing a small number of games exclusive to Xbox on the PS5.

PS5 Outsold Xbox Series X|S 5 To 1 As Xbox Sold Less Than 1 Million Units Last Quarter. Those Are Worse Numbers Than The Xbox One And Wii U
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This is not only bad for Microsoft but for the overall industry as well. It will reduce competition if the small number of games that were exclusive to the Xbox Series X/S come to the PS5. The after-effects can result in Sony holding a monopoly in the console market, where they start producing games of lower quality and sell them at a higher price simply because there is no competition.

is there no reason to get an xbox anymore since all of the exclusives games are “coming” to ps5?
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Console exclusivity has multiple positive effects on the gaming industry aside from reducing the accessibility to a certain game. It allows manufacturers to compete for the best exclusive lineup for their console, which leads to the making of some of the most amazing gaming experiences. It even has a positive impact on video game developers since they get funded by manufacturers to make games for one specific platform.