It is no surprise thatonline cross-play is becoming more inclusive, as console companies begin opening the doors for players to interact with gamers on other platforms. Additionally, popular cross-platform online games such asDauntlessare beginning to call their own shots on the matter and spearhead their own cross-platform initiatives.
Gamers may be wondering if there will be less exclusives forPlaystation 5andXbox Series X, as more inclusive multi-platform gaming takes much of the center stage. However, the answer is not so simple, but consumers may actually be offered the best of both worlds: more exclusive games, while the doors also begin to open for more expansive cross-play gaming.
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In the recent past, companies, especiallySony, were stubborn to open up the doors for cross-play, in hopes that it would sway more players to purchase its console over the competitor’s. However, the market paradigm is much more complex now, and perhaps for the better.
Perhaps the people behind Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 are catching wind of how streaming game services such asStadia could threaten the status quoof the old business models by allowing friends to seek out alternative streaming options to play with each other. In other words, the walls that separated the Playstation and Xbox communities had benefited Sony and Microsoft in the past by keeping its communities loyal and closely knit within its own walls. However, services such as Stadia can potentially bypass these walls by skipping the need to invest in additional hardware if it can bring players together from Sony and Microsoft’s communities.
This presents a new type of dilemma that Microsoft and Sony are likely to take notice of, if the two companies have not already. There is clearly more incentive forXbox Series X and Playstation 5 to open up the doors to cross-play now, at the very least to compete with Stadia as an attractive alternative option which bypasses previous walls that were in place. In doing so, players can stick with multi-platform game purchases on their first choice console, whether that is Playstation 5 or Xbox Series X.
And players' first choice console will be determined, even more so now, by the offerings of exclusive titles. Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 will need to rely upon exclusives even more heavily to distinguish themselves from all the multi-platform content which has an ever growing share of the gaming market, especially as the doors to cross-play opens up. Bungie is already teasing cross-play inDestiny 2, andPlayerUnknown’s Battlegroundshas already accomplished it. There is also evidence emerging thatApex Legendscould include cross-play soon.
Software sales have always been the key to making a profit, as hardware sales alone do not make enough money, especially in the beginning when the cost to manufacture state-of-the-art hardware can actually surpass the price it is sold for in some cases. Therefore, if there is one core element of the old business model that will clearly stay intact even more so now, it is console manufacturers' fixation on creatingthe best exclusive gameson the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X.
The role of exclusive games could change to a certain degree, however, and become more fixated on single player experiences rather than multiplayer experiences, as the latter would need to compete with cross-play and multi-platform online games which already have a much easier advantage in connecting with multiple communities. In other words, an exclusive multiplayer game is going to have a harder time competing with the many amazing options already available amongcross-play and multi-platform online game choices.
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Microsoft already appears to be doubling down on the prioritization and development of exclusive games. Microsoft has purchased several game companies, including Ninja Theory and Obsidian Entertainment, to develop exclusive titles for its next console. In fact, many industry observers agree that the Xbox One put itself at a fairly big disadvantage precisely because it had less exclusive games than the Playstation 4, and lackluster hardware sales have reflected the matter. Xbox Series X, Microsoft’s next-generation console, hopes to fix this shortcoming byreleasing an exclusive game every four monthsat least.
While exclusives will certainly remain the most important factor as the Xbox Series X and PS5 prepare for release, the advent of streaming gaming, cross-play, and multi-platform game development could foster competition for Sony and Microsoft to create other avenues for exclusive content to be made. For example, if players have the option of obtaining a game on different platforms, Xbox Series X and PS5 will still need to compete over which platform an individual buyer may purchase a multi-platform game for.
Indie gaming has already proven to be a very profitable marketing model for the Nintendo Switch, and could be a cost effective way of producing superior online gaming packages with quality exclusive content if consumers remain exclusively loyal to a particular platform.
Microsoft is already placing a priority on backwards compatibility offerings of older-generation exclusives as it heads into the future with the Xbox Series X. One area where we may see change as we head into the future is less individual types of services and more expansive single packages, already seen with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
For example, Sony’s game streaming services, Playstation Now, could become incorporated into the overall online package it sells under the Playstation Plus membership, or be offered under a higher tier option within it. Gamers may not be swayed enough to purchasePlaystation Now as a separate service, but the overall online service package could become more attractable if such services are part of the package they pay for yearly. And if a gamer is already invested in a particular online package, then it may prove to be the more attractable option for purchasing its version of a particular multi-platform game, even if the player has access to other platforms in their household.
In other words, to sum it up, hardware may not be the only determining factor in competing over multi-platform games, especially sinceservices such as Stadia skip the hardware medium. Online gaming packages, coupled with Playstation 5 exclusives such asGodfall, will likely ensure loyalty to Sony’s platform. However, it will also ensure that future cross-play games such asMLB The Showare purchased on that same platform, even if that particular consumer belongs to other communities on other platforms, which he or she will still be able to play online with.
As PS5 and Xbox Series X linger on the not-so-distant horizon, the options look bright as the market more strongly shifts towards consumers' demands. Gamers may likely enjoy the best of both worlds, as multi-platform cross-play games take a foothold hopefully, and Microsoft and Sony prioritize an ever expansive array of attractable first party exclusive titles to distinguish themselves from all the cross-play content that is arriving. The most important defining factor that the future beholds is clearlymore exclusive games, as well as more options to play, and the consumers are certainly the biggest winners here.
