Exclusives ‘ethics’ discussion

Gaming
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Here it is all short and sweet. I don’t care who you are or how unbiased you are. If you think that MS just spent 7.5 billion (with a “b”) on a company so that they can sell the competitors console, you are in denial full stop. Maybe a few of the smaller games or GAAS titles will, but major titles will all be exclusive.

People’s argument in this regard stems around the belief that MS just wants you in their ecosystem. To an extent, that is true. But they also made 2 next gen consoles for a reason. To sell them. And they bought all of these developers to do just that. They finally got one of the premier distributors and finally have one upped Sony at their own game. There’s no way they’re giving that up. Otherwise, they would go full on third party. Bethesda games are now exclusive…deal with it.

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I agree with your points, and would also point to rumors that Sony was trying to make Starfield exclusive to PlayStation. A lot of the whining from Sony fans just seems to be that Xbox won in this instance and is getting something that they aren’t.

There are also so many paths to playing Bethesda games going forward-- Xbox consoles, PC (Game Pass, Microsoft Store, Steam), and Game Pass streaming on Tablets/Phones-- that PS players are only being denied something through their own stubbornness.

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It is a non-issue that people are trying to make into an issue.

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She’s a hypocrite just like any other journalist, youtuber or whatever who whines about MS games being exclusive. She tries to make some good points, but those fall flat as soon as she thinks Sony exclusives are fine. There is even one comment of her in the comment section where she says something like “don’t you care about other gamers” when responding to someone who is in favour of Bethesda games being Xbox exclusives. What? She wouldn’t say that about Sony exclusives.

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Just look at the reactions towards the previous rumours of Starfield exclusivity on on PS5 on forums before the purchase of Bethesda Zenimax. Did you see any concerns of this sort or people worried for Xbox not getting Starfield? Lol. Double standard as usual…

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I’ve always said, it’s fine to be a fanboy/girl FOR something. Just don’t let that morph into being anti-something else.

And of COURSE she favors Sony. I get so tired of hearing gamers say “I don’t favor any console, I have them all”. That’s complete and utter nonsense. People have multiple pairs for shoes. One pair is their favorite. You can have multiple cars. One will be your favorite. Hell, you can have multiple children, one will be your favorite.

And in a lot of cases, it’s not like these media personalities even spend their own money to obtain these consoles. They’re usually GIVEN to them. So no, owning “all the consoles” doesn’t mean there’s no favoritism. Allanah made a video basically saying she doesn’t like Xbox making this boss move over Sony and tried to disguise it as “concern” for the “poor Sony-only gamer”.

That’s it.

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Poor Sony only gamers is also a terrible argument when the console haven’t even launched yet.

There are 0 ps5 owners right now, and last I checked there’s no rule stating that every games must get a Playstation first. If the person sees games they want on other platforms he/she will get the console with that game. If even without the games he/she decided to go with Playstation that was an informed decision.

Even more so because Ms has Xcloud, pc, SS and gamepass making it by far the more accessible platform at this moment. To the point the only reason someone will be excluded is if that person doesn’t want to get in into the Xbox ecosystem anyway.

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The poor gamer notion makes me laugh because, I am sorry, if money is a big worry for you, you shouldn’t even be considering a PS5 when the Series S exists. Microsoft also has Game Pass which guarantees you games on the day of release for $10 a month from a company that now has 23 studios and counting, which is especially important this coming gen because all game prices will increase, especially in Europe.

Some people might not like what I say but I am giving hard facts here. It is without question that Microsoft will have the most accessible ways to play games next-gen, it is just a fact.

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89

I will try to provide my point of view, with some really BASIC mathematics (unfortunately I suck at mathematics), to argue WHY Microsoft does not have ANY benefit from releasing Bethesda’s IPs to PS5.

Let’s start with the argument that some people make about “the install base that cannot be ignored”. PS5 has NO install base at this point. We are not talking about current-gen. We are talking about a totally new generation, that starts from 0, for both of them. Releasing these games exclusively to the Xbox ecosystem will give a great incentive for millions of players to buy an Xbox console (either as their primary system or not). More players moving to Xbox means greater profits all around for Microsoft.

Now let’s say that Microsoft releases these games to PS5, for 80€ per unit (that’s the new price here in Europe for PS5 games). Sony will get a 30% cut from each sale. As a result, Microsoft will earn 56€ per unit. Now, let’s say that this game sells 1 million units to PS5. Microsoft will earn 56€ million. That’s it. Microsoft will not earn any more money (except for additional content or microtransactions that the game might have or not). Let’s see what happens if this game is coming exclusively to the Xbox ecosystem though.

Most likely, users that are NOT part of the Xbox ecosystem, will want to play the game. Consequently, they will either buy the game on the Windows store or buy a GamePass subscription on PC, or buy an Xbox console with the aforementioned game, or buy an Xbox console and a GamePass subscription. Users coming into the Xbox ecosystem will surely become invested in it. Let’s do the math here though.

Xbox consoles

Xbox Series S + Bethesda Game (70€) = 370€

Xbox Series X + Bethesda Game (70€) = 570€

Xbox Series S + Bethesda Game (70€) + 1 month of Xbox GamePass (10€) = 380€

Xbox Series X + Bethesda Game (70€) + 1 month of Xbox GamePass (10€) = 580€

These are just SOME of the possible scenarios that someone starts investing in the Xbox ecosystem. Long-term profits for Microsoft from hardware sales, software sales, and subscriptions per month? Billions of euros.

In my opinion, it’s really basic mathematics that PROVES why Microsoft’s best interest is to keep these games exclusive to their ecosystem. I don’t understand how some “journalists” insist that Microsoft NEEDS to release this content to other platforms. Do they even think about business strategies and economics? I don’t know to be honest. I might be missing something in my analysis that they don’t. Who knows…

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90

You wouldn’t even need to buy the Bethesda game as it will be included on Game Pass the day it releases. A customer can walk away with a next-generation console and Elder Scrolls VI on launch date for 310 euros.

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As I said, these are some of the possible scenarios. They could also just buy a next-gen console and keep a Game Pass subscription for years to come. I just wanted to point out that Microsoft has way more long-term benefits to keep the games exclusive to their ecosystem :smiley:

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PlayStation/ Nintendo users can EASILY use one of these devices to play Bethesda games :arrow_down:

• X1/ X1S/ X1X • XSX/ XSS • PC • IOS/ Android systems • Cloud Gaming • Game Pass

While the opposite, well force Xbox & all these users :arrow_up: To buy PS or Switch.

Sorry but I can’t agree with any media person who puts his channel business before gamers benefit. Who cared about MILLIONS of Xbox gamers couldn’t play, Street Fighter 5 till this day?

Mic Drop.

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93

Yes this 100%. This is why it doesn’t make sense to have Bethesda games timed exclusive for a year then go to ps5. Alot of people would just wait the year to buy it and by then it might not even be $70. You keep the games exclusive to gamepass and when you have enough content people want they will subscribe. This Bethesda deal is long term not just this gen but for years after when consoles no longer exist because internet speeds just keep getting better and stream tech keeps improving

1 Like
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No Street Fighter V, no Persona, no Nioh and a few JRPG that weren’t exactly exclusives titles (and we just got back Yakuza and Kingdom Hearts…). I think we’ve got really shafted this gen. So I think getting Bethesda is just bringing balance between Xbox and Playstation (“as all things should be”, as said by someone here).

In the end, it won’t really damage the Playstation brand. People who are Playstation only will move on. They are already trying to convince themselves they were never interested in Bethesda games, so yeah.

I hope Sony take things seriously though, and don’t take advantage of their customers. Really, what it shows is that when Sony is in the front seat, they don’t really care about evolving or trying to make great strides. They just stagnate and abuse their position. It could bite them in the ass real fast. They already mocked by fans, even in IGN videos…

Maybe Alanah could make a video on those 70$/80€ games next.

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95

They would have kept up with the timed exclusives too. Supposedly they allocated a large amount of money to do just that. They would have likely locked xbox owners out for most of next gen and the gaming press wouldn’t have said anything negative about it. Xbox fans that can’t “afford” to buy a PS4 weren’t given a second thought when Sony locked down SFV as exclusive for the entire gen and some of next gen (seeing as how most of their newest content will be releasing well into the fall of next year), Sony was planning to go after Starfield before the Acquisition.

I feel like many in the gaming media don’t want to see Sony lose it’s position, whether they are cognizant of it or not. Many don’t want the Xbox to be competitive like it was during the 360 gen, when many of those third party exclusives they had during the PS2 era went multiplatform. They seem to deep down believe that Sony is entitled to these games.

When Starfield and the next ES or Fallout is announced as being exclusive to the xbox ecosystems, expect a lot of angry editorials about Microsoft with the term “anti consumer” thrown around a lot.

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96

I’ll break this down to an example that has already happened in a different industry.

Disney Purchased Marvel and Star Wars when they did not have a service (Disney+) hence all the properties were on multiple platforms (Netflix and the likes). As soon as Disney+ became a thing, these very same properties are no longer on competing services. They are prominently being advertised on Disney+.

Now let’s talk Videogames. MS buys a publisher, they have a service unlike Disney originally when they made their original purchase. MS has absolutely no reason to put their IP’s on other platforms.

Additionally; Sony has been walking tall (according to many insiders) where they are going to each publisher with one goal and that is to money hat for time exclusives or what they call it “PlayStation Advantage”. The sole purpose? to keep games off of Xbox. When MS own the IP’s tell me why they should give PS these games?

Xbox apparently has no games, but when they do its too much. Sounds very similar to the hardware joke a few days ago about Xbox SX is not powerful enough and Xbox SX is too much of a power upgrade. The circular logic on display in these arguments is mind-blowing.

It’s rather fascinating these so called neutral media folks really show who they cater to when things flip.

There are SO many different ways for you to join the Xbox ecosystem these days, and for anyone to complain is equivalent to screaming in the void to me. With PS, you are forced to buy their system, same with Nintendo. As someone above mentioned, there are many many ways to get the game without ever buying a Series X.

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97

Man Mike Ybarra know the media very well

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98

There is definitely a double standard with Sony and MS in regards to exclusives. A lot of what we are seeing are just people trying to support their own platform choice and Sony has more marketshare so obviously arguments (spin) will be biased in their favor. The arguments for or against exclusivity are heavily influenced in console/list wars and wanting “wins” against the other platform in whatever made up fantasy football like game fanboys are playing. They aren’t really based on what is good for those games or players.

Exclusives are good for marketing and selling a console, but bad for the actual games and players. This is why you always hear how GREAT it is that SONY got another exclusive, but how BAD it is for GAMES/PLAYERS when Xbox gets exclusives. It is just the spin to highlight the negatives or positives based on what side a person is on.

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A lot of gaming journalists are stuck in the traditional console war mindset and how companies have one device and you need to purchase it to get into their ecosystem.

Microsoft is going beyond the traditional model and enabling people to get into their ecosystem through a variety of means. At this point, all the Xbox is now is a device for people to get into the ecosystem, but you can just as easily use a PC and now you can use a phone or tablet.

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