The Xbox One has an exclusivity problem. At least, that’s the perception. For many gamers, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to go out and buy an Xbox One, unless they’re power-hungry and want the X for its 4K support. It stands in contrast to the general perception of the other machins. Nintendo’s Switch is seen as a machine just for exclusives, home to games like Arms, Splatoon 2, Breath of the Wild and soon, Super Mario Odyssey. PlayStation, meanwhile, is the only place you’ll find games like Bloodborne, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn.
Xbox Studios general manager Shannon Loftis says she’s “a little bit confused” over this perception, saying that Xbox has a great library of exclusives.
“In terms of exclusives, I’ve heard that rumor and I’m a little bit confused because we have a really good lineup this holiday,” Loftis said to GameInformer. “We’ve got the most popular game on the planet in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds–the Xbox console is going to be the only place where you can play that. We also have Forza Motorsport 7, which every single year reinvents the racing genre and basically owns racing in the video games industry.”
“Plus all of our previous exclusives are getting Xbox One X enhancements as well. And then into 2018 we’ve got Sea of Thieves, we have Crackdown 3, and State of Decay 2. I think it’s pretty good – there’s a huge amount of experiences for people to have.”
She also namechecked Super Lucky’s Tale and Cuphead as great Xbox exclusives. The problem? No Xbox Games are really exclusive, as they can all be played on PC. Play Anywhere, Microsoft’s frankly fantastic program that allows players to buy a game on either platform and play it on both, may have possibly backfired in some small way. Some see no reason to get an Xbox, because they could just play on PC.
Says Loftis:
“Xbox Play Anywhere is just a commitment that our major IPs are going to be available on both Windows 10 and on consoles, and that seems to be incredibly well-received by people.
I’ll tell you the truth: most of the time what we’re seeing is people buy a game on console, they’ll try it out on PC and maybe go back to console. Or they’ll buy it on PC, give it a shot on console, then go back to PC. By and large, I think just knowing that you’re safe no matter which device you want to enjoy that content on has been a net positive.”
Is this perception – that Xbox One has no exclusives – one you have?
Last Updated: October 19, 2017
Sageville
October 19, 2017 at 12:05
Gamers are simple folk, they will compare “exclusives” across platforms, PC doesn’t count in this regards, so it’s a straight up XBOX vs PLAYSTATION comparison.
So far, for me, I bought Cuphead on PC, only Sea of Thieves makes me jelly, but I’ve never felt compelled to buy the Xbox over their exclusive offerings, the other exclusives mentioned are pending releases, so they ignored the recent vacuum on Xbox. So I agree with author that the Play Anywhere system might be biting them in the ass due to “Pure exclusive” perception.
I do think it’s also difficult to ascribe purchase motivation purely to exclusives, hard to separate brand loyalty from these equations.
Skyblue
October 19, 2017 at 17:31
PC has Quake Champions ;-p Seriously though, I’ve been fortunate enough to always have both leading consoles in my home since X360 and have continued to do so. TBH though the PS4 only gets used for exclusives, everything else gets played on Xbone (It’s the controller) on console but if it’s on PC… forget about it, PC wins every time.
Galbedir
October 19, 2017 at 12:15
Should have just invested heavily in making sure the Fable franchise was great every release. Fable would have been a huge console seller if they just kept up with the greatness that was Fable 1, much like Uncharted/God of War.
Nikola
October 19, 2017 at 12:32
This is exactly my point with Xbox, first they bullshit attitude and not listening to their fan base you don’t have exclusives besides Forza at the moment. I don’t think Xbox is a inferior console at all but it is simply a matter of games if I was a new console buyer I look at what games would I be missing out if I had to choose an Xbox over PS4 to name a few:
Uncharted
God of War
Nioh
Bloodborne
Horizon Zero Dawn
Last of Us
Yakuza
Nier
Until Dawn
Days Gone
Infamous
Not to mention all the JRPG’s. Xbox exclusives that interest me:
Forza
Gears of War
Cuphead
Halo
This is just my view on it I will rather get the console where I won’t miss out on sooo many really really good games.
Pieter Kruger
October 19, 2017 at 16:17
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4f8f714a9f9cf1f968b8b4e2cecce7339884e4ffc17a8959ecc1621b3737991e.jpg
Revolver Ocelot
October 20, 2017 at 04:32
Vgchartz
Middle aged Xbox roach ColtEastwood
Hahahahahahahahah
Try harder.
U weirdo
October 19, 2017 at 19:44
The problem is Sony’s 3rd person singleplayer games have no replay value and are just timed exclusives until they release on PC PSnow. Sony can’t do anything else…look at GT sport, a complete and total embarrassment. Forza 7 and Forza Horizon 3 are the best racers in gaming. Forza Horizon 3 outsold Destiny 2 and every dead Sony single player timed exclusive last month. Halo 5, Cuphead, Gears, heck even black ops on back compat have more people playing them than Sony’s single player exclusives that are dead and forgotten 2 weeks after release. The problem is that the Sony weirdos are mad so they have created this fake news.
Wei Zhang
October 19, 2017 at 21:17
PC MASTER RACE!!!!
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
October 20, 2017 at 10:05
“We also have Forza Motorsport 7, which every single year reinvents the
racing genre and basically owns racing in the video games industry.”
https://media.giphy.com/media/l1J9Jzcs9OHXa310k/giphy.gif
Dawid Gericke
October 21, 2017 at 10:21
Exclusive to me means that you can only play that game on one system, be it a PS4 or Xbone.
Seeing as Uncharted 4, Horizon Zero Dawn, Nioh, Last of Us, Bloodborne, etc. to name a few are all ONLY available on PS4, it gets my vote. The reinvention of the racing genre every year has never been enough to pull me to any console, and if I can play Xbone games on PC I would rather do so. Nothing beats a keyboard and mouse combo:)