In the latest 'Analyze This' series of exclusive Gamasutra features, analysts from Screen Digest, Creative Strategies and Wedbush Morgan Securities are asked their thoughts on how important exclusive titles are for this new generation of the console war.
As part of his response, Screen Digest's Ed Barton said:
"Given the hardware market is likely to be more competitive this time round, we aren't seeing the pressures which existed in the [prior] generation for third parties to coalesce around one dominant hardware platform. Yet.
On the other hand, acquiring [several] exclusive games for a console platform is much more significant in terms of driving hardware sales. This brings to mind Phil Harrison's oft quoted observation: "Killer games don't matter; killer catalogs do.""
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.
"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."
That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.
Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"
Microsoft: "why's that"
Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.
tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.
exclusives still matter.
ninty is all about exclusives and with 360 having better versions of multi format games exclusives better matter or ps3 is in real trouble.
well, about the exclusives bit.Example if PS3 had a good next gen exclusive Wipeout game available,i would be queueing for a machine at the end of March.If 360 had same game, then i don't need a PS3 at the moment.Exclusives can sell machines, but i suspect we will see less and less of them due to production costs of games sky rocketing.Devs can't afford to develop for one platform and the likes of MS and Sony can't afford to buy them off anymore.
That Michael Pachter, the analyst, thought that Sony's best chance of moving consoles this year was to bundle Spider-Man 3 with the PS3. He must feel the exclusives this year for the PS3, while they might be good games, won't move consoles. Not good.
3rd. party titles are the icing on the cake. That is why I own a 360. Better show of 3rd. party games. I know this may seem corny but picking a console is just as important to most of us as picking a weapon based on the battlefield.
You want a great list of 1st party games that will make you purchase worth it. That exclusivity makes your purchase much more worth its weight in an exponential way. Fact of the matter is some people buy them all up front and may have a console that collects dust, but I just cannot do that. I want my purchase to add up right away. So when the 1st party games start to shape up for the PS3 and the Wii. You will see more praises from me.
They are VERY IMPORTANT!! except the ones that nobody gives a poop.