Rise of the timed exclusive

Ouch, what a big blow. Those aware of the recent Gamescom news will know exactly the thing I'm referring to. Tomb Raider fans hoping to enjoy a brand new adventure from last year's hit reboot Tomb Raider will be disappointed unless you've came prepared with an Xbox One. Tomb Raider's sequel has suddenly been grabbed by Microsoft as an xbox one console exclusive. Meanwhile it has issues holding any other title, but this still has people baffled and raging at their monitors. However is it all really bad? There's actually a bit of a cheering side with this move actually. Yes for the most part people are acting like its a sin Square or Microsoft committed, but some say "Finally Microsoft gets it". Personally I'm mixed. I was told first through an unofficial source and felt some sense of disbelief, read it and then thought "alright fine, I know exclusives happen. This is just like BloodBorne, and I can live without this since 2015 is still going to be awesome". Later the final thought hit me as it remains now... this isn't just an exclusive, its a freakin' sequel and this isn't quite the ideal way these things should work. This is actually so wrong it jus- Oh wait, halt the press! It turns out it was later confirmed to be a timed exclusive.... on an entire launch of a triple A sequel. Way to take this to a whole new level of stupid microsoft... but I'm not going to just trash MS here, they only started and dealed a new card in the timed exclusive wars. Sony has been fighting it as well, which is pretty much equally as bad and considering how much more ground they're usually covering you could even argue its worse. I know I'm not the first to say this, but fuck timed exclusives.

Now before I start this rant I have to say the TR news we got after gamecom is good (or at least better). I was so ready and willing to make this article a ripping rant into why this wasn't just a regular exclusive deal, though I was also going to name some brighter sides as well. However for the most part it was looking grim for fans and was generally a sour corporate move that shook our expectations and ideas of what it means to have a good exclusive. Its not just an exclusive in this case, but one that was a sequel to a major multi-platform hit and a long time iconic adventure franchise. It may have only been rebooted last year, but Lara has been a major impact on the multi-platform industry, and has strong roots in the PlayStation community, and recent heavy backing from the PC community. To rip it all away and then brag about how your holding back the most ambitious Tomb Raider yet (just PR hype talk, but its still got legit potential to be that) from more than a 3rd of its fanbase (xbox ports saw the least sales of the 5 consoles it was on) is just screwed up. Its further more worrying when you question whether or not they shot their potential sales, as this was the kind of move that was going to stir more anger than xbox one sales. Now by contrast Sunset Overdrive was the right alternative to this situation. New IP, fresh ambitions, great marketing, well known and smart development team, and funded like a 1st party game. That is a killer xbox one game that I envy but accept its exclusivity, and it will shift units if it lives up to expectations. Tomb Raider just isn't doing it right though. On top of that I'd also like to bring up the 2nd major thing this news brought: it was coming to 360. So... yeah it lost all credibility within that second as being an important exclusive. Its not even attempting to encourage people to pick up an xbox one, its just getting people outside the entire xbox circle to become pissed off. So its totally off par of a good and important exclusive. The fact that this is all timed and we are likely to see this game go to other platforms is ultimately a victory over that brief illusion that it'd be locked out as a spiteful exclusive. Still that doesn't excuse the situation entirely, the fact that timed exclusives have gone this far is bullshit and I think its way past time I put my $0.02 for what its worth.

Remember how I just described that move MS made if it were to be a true Xbox 360/one exclusive? Yeah that's how I feel about the whole timed thing. It doesn't help anyone, it's just plain and obvious spite for

spite's sake. Timed exclusives don't fill the role of truly helping out any side, business or consumer, as far as I'm aware of. Maybe it'll help the developer team paid off to do it, as they have sales from the contract as well as the general multi-plat sales whenever it gets to that stage, and they have time to delay one or more ports so there might be less pressure. However... its not a very important or interesting business move, and both developer and publisher will still be caring about the sales above all else. Also its not necessarily true that it really does benefit them, maybe there will be angry people boycotting or piracy raised up due to the deal thus hurting sales. Meanwhile I can't find any articles, proven sales numbers, or common sense to back up any possible benefits to this practice. Actually I found two articles on how it'll motivate piracy. After sitting down and thinking for a while I can only come to the conclusion that they THINK the people who own both consoles will buy the copy that comes out sooner, meaning if you own both PS4 and xbox one you'll buy Destiny on PS4 for its buck of extra content and Tomb Raider at its debut release on the XB1. Then they get.... a whopping 10-20% of the revenue of each game copy of what few are influenced by the deal. Worth shelling out thousands or more for that contract? I seriously doubt that soooo many more people bought into that small fraction to make it worth it. The people will still even then be more motivated to just buy it on their console of choice where they have their best score system (trophies/achievements) and friends. I even had a friend that follows this example. He had all consoles, but bought every single multi-platform game for the 360, even ubisoft games with their extra hour or two of content on the PS3 versions. Meanwhile consumers aren't buying a new freakin' console over it, but instead are just going with what was more appealing by hardware, support, and true 1st party funded exclusives like Sunset Overdrive, Bloodborne, Halo 5, or Uncharted 4. Nintendo basically just had a 3rd of all Wii U owners buy Mario Kart 8. That's the kind of thing that sells consoles. Nobody is sitting there thinking they have to run and put down $400+ over a year long contract duration. If Killzone Shadow Fall was for some reason coming to the Wii U, PS3, or PS vita in a year, I wouldn't have gotten a PS4 this soon.

Oh but don't worry, Sony says it doesn't pull weird stunts with their exclusives and only does deals like Destiny because its "Good for the consumer". No really, They said that. Let me take it a bit out of context to show you what it should be like....

"Well, you know, we’ve got a very large and very powerful network of studios on our own, all of whom are working on games that will be fully exclusive to PlayStation. So do we feel the need to go out and buy outright exclusivity? Probably not. You saw last night [at Sony's press conference] that before the media briefing we showed updated videos of games that we had revealed at E3. That’s because we wanted to keep the show itself full of new, fresh things. We think that gave us a good, strong, convincing portfolio of exclusive stuff and we’re happy with that."

YES! So happy I bought a PlayStation 4! Love you Sony!

Instead... what we really got was this ugly mess:

"Well, you know, we’ve got a very large and very powerful network of studios on our own, all of whom are working on games that will be fully exclusive to PlayStation, and we feel that this on top of partnering with third parties where it makes sense. I think the partnership we have with Activision on Destiny is a good example of where it makes really good sense for them, it makes good sense for us and it benefits our consumers – when you complement those two things we think that gives us a pretty complete position in the market. So do we feel the need to go out and buy outright exclusivity? Probably not."

You what!? On behalf of my xbox friends, Screw you Sony.

I don't really know what I find more offensive. The fact that these practices have gone out of control, and everybody knows it, or the fact that statements like Jim Ryan trying to tell me I'm befitting from this, or Phil Spencer denying that they were "faking out" anyone by calling Tomb Raider an exclusive. We're not that stupid. The tomb raider announcement was clearly faking out people, they only came clean when being pushed by the press. As for Sony: research, thousands of rants, and an internet full of comment section begs to differ on how anybody is benefiting from your timed exclusive DLC garbage. Its all a big joke. You were already going to have a stormfront of sales on destiny without the exclusive crap, but its not because of Destiny. That's on PS3 and would have been enough for most people. Instead they're here because you get the other kind of exclusive right in addition to offering multi-platform titles like Destiny. People are giving you your 10 million PS4 sales because of games like Last of Us remastered, Killzone Shadow Fall, Infamous, and upcoming hits like Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne. Nobody is actually satisfied with you for your artificially exclusive content in Destiny. Instead you just piss people off, divide content from those not fortunate enough to have every console ever in their house, and at no real gain... not even business. Imagine if the rest of the world's marketing tactics were this stupid, and movies were temporarily missing an action scene or a character dies off screen because you ran it on a console or Netflix instead of a Samsung device. It doesn't make that much sense, and more than motivating people it just pisses them off and screws with the entertainment's substance thus holding the whole experience back from what the people worked hard to bring to you.

Actually there is a way to do exclusive content right, but its still lost it in this case. Tell me, why can't I play as a Helghast in PS4's port of Destiny? Why can't I use the Shadow Marshal's laser gun, or find a unique NPC that just so happens to look a bit like the guy from Infamous? Meanwhile the xbox one version is more than fit for Halo references. Just litter the game with them, and you give something that makes your platform loyal consumers feel special without taking anything away from the other side. Mortal Kombat, Lost planet 2, Minecraft, and the upcoming PS4 version of Diablo 3 get this right. They give you content based on the exclusive property tied in, thus making a longtime fan of PlayStation or Xbox fan who has gotten attached to a special exclusive series all that much more special. Similarly valve sort of influences a system in which their massive F2P game TeamFortress2 gets cosmetics based off the games you love. Not only is this just a fun bonus to fans of multiple games, but its also a clever way to advertise for those who weren't paying attention. When I saw shadow of the colluses being brought into Diablo 3 I was a bit shocked to see such an old stand alone game pop in generations ahead within a different context, and then that got me thinking about that game again. Maybe I should give it another chance? Its a huge classic, so many fond memories, held as a high point of "games as art", and that monster just seems so cool. All of this came from just a slight nudge of a reference in Diablo 3. Maybe I'll go out and buy the HD port on PSN now. BOOM! Exclusive bonus, and more revenue. Also I have to say I'm guilty of holding off on Tekken Tag tournament 2 because I knew Wii U's version had exclusive Nintendo content that used the Nintendo bit to its full capacity with mascot themed costumes and power-ups. So Nintendo kind of shifted both a game and console with this kind of move, and it was a legit exclusive deal that nobody else could do. DO THIS MORE! Not just Sony, but everyone! Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, do this more often. Turn other games into showcases of your awesome exclusive properties (in passive non-ruining ways of course). This is awesome. Meanwhile.... timed exclusives need to die... now. Square Enix, Microsoft, Sony, and Ubisoft should all be ashamed of themselves for playing such a big role in it. I would say Activision to, but they're just outright evil so I gave up on  them having any shame long ago. Timed exclusives aren't helping anyone, and are just a source of anger, frustration, and another toxic thing clogging the industry thanks to shifting money within the circle of publishers. If any fan out there is actually clapping or supporting this nonsense, they need to take a good hard look at their life to see what went wrong.

More of this would be nice though