Exclusivity

This is a topic that has been on my mind for a while now. I started thinking about it a lot when I was informed that “From Dust” would be released early on the X-Box 360 compared to other platforms, such as PSN or Steam. Now, I am probably biased when I talk about this, as I don’t have an X-Box. However, this has been weighing on my mind for a while.

Limbo is being released on PSN and Steam (also) finally. It sounds like a great game – nominated for a BAFTA, etc etc… But isn’t the release a little bit… Late? They previously mentioned that is was intended to be a 360 exclusive, but now they seem to have changed their minds. Microsoft managed to get Minecraft exclusively released on the 360, despite the fact that the original version is PC, Mac and Linux, and they are developing an Android version. The Fallout 3 DLC was EVENTUALLY released on PSN, after a very long delay. The DLC for GTA 4 also eventually got released on PSN and PC. Microsoft's timed exclusivity on all Call of Duty DLC. That's not saying that PSN doesn’t have exclusives, they do too. Same for Steam. Literally, there are too many examples of this.

Back in the days of the Playstation, if you were told that a game was going to be released on one platform, it got released on one platform. Was the supposed greatest shooter of all time (Goldeneye, N64) ever released on other platforms? Nope. Wii doesn’t count either. People would usually purchase one platform, and for better or worse, they had to enjoy the games that were released on it. That seems to have completely changed.

I suppose I feel almost socialist when I say this but I don’t think that what happens nowadays is a good thing. “Timed Exclusivity” would be a mixed blessing, if only they were allowed to announce that. Typically companies are not allowed to say when the exclusivity period ends, or even their intensions. And as a consumer of these entertainment products, this tarnishes the image of not just the game companies themselves, but the big corporations that offer these decisions on the game companies with boatloads of cash. Typically it’s not even companies that need that cash boat. I can see why they do it. It doesn’t seem to harm anyone, and the developer gets loads of cash. Isn’t that partially harmful?

The games industry seems to be purely running on Exclusives, Timed Exclusives and sequels. Oh god the sequels… Look at the November release schedule. It’s like sequel month. But looking to the future, I can easily see that The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim will have timed exclusive DLC on the 360. It’s blindingly obvious. I don’t enjoy exclusives. Big games, yeah. Uncharted. Gears of War. Halo. Resistance. Mario Galaxy. They are developed by second party developers, and being released on other consoles will never happen (For the foreseeable future). It’s the third party games and DLC that just ticks me off. It’s purely done for greed, rather than for the benefit of the consumer. I hope that in the future, we see less of this ridiculous timed exclusive releases tied in with NDA’s about the length of time even. Just annoying, that all.