The Benefit of Doing Console Launch Exclusive Games

The gaming industry is always changing and with that it seems as though launch exclusives are disappearing to instead become timed exclusives or now with the term of console launch exclusives. It's easy to confuse the meaning of the two, but the timed exclusive phrase doesn't really capture the spirit of an exclusive while meaning the same thing essentially. It also has some negative context behind it for whatever reason and console launch exclusive sounds more magical from a marketing perspective. That being said, there actually are some benefits in going this way to release games.

The first is the financial support behind it including the marketing aspect. The platform that has the game will push it towards consumers since marketing is costly and it'll help them in the development. The developer/publisher then also has the gains of being able to release their game on other platforms after the decided upon time for more potential profits. The games feel as though they're exclusive and it probably costs less for all sides involved instead of having games become just exclusive to a single platform. It also might save a particular game if it doesn't perform well on the single console or fails to meet expectations.


We're starting to see this plan aggressively from the Xbox side of things, but it's also happening with Playstation as well for a number of releases. It's nice that all sides get to actually experience games and I like how Xbox is being very open about the fact that these titles will release elsewhere. I don't like how a game such as Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy may or may not be an exclusive. The players that do have a specific game coming to their platform feel special for a limited time and the marketing can help sell consoles depending on the release.

When I've played Rise of the Tomb Raider and Dead Rising 4 it gives off that feeling of exclusivity. Being a reviewer I move through games such as these two quickly and get that taste of it being for a platform. It actually almost acts as a double release for me as I'll get hits when it lands on the first console on the site/videos I do and then it spikes up again a year or so later when the other release happens. I'm sure other gamers mirror that sort of being done with a game shortly after launch. Most regular players also only care about a game for a short period of time so getting it on your platform over others is great for a short bit and by the time it comes elsewhere you don't really care and players over there might. I get the point of the console launch exclusive and when I thought about it the other night I found that there are some benefits involved in doing it for all sides of gaming.

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