I personally believe that Crash is indeed a timed exclusive and it will come to other platforms later, but I think I'd happen at least a year from now. December feels early imo. I have been following this game ever since it was announced (I used to play the originals when I was younger, so I'm obviously interested in it), but I don't have a PS4 nor do I want one, so I've been looking at this exclusivity thing very closely.
Here's what I've gathered so far, sorry for the giant wall of text:
- The game has only been announced for PS4, but there's been no official mention of it being exclusive. Sony loves to talk about their exclusive titles, but they haven't said a word about it regarding this game, which is weird. Activision hasn't said a thing either.
- Months ago, PlayStation Ireland's twitter account said that the game was exclusive to the PS4. That tweet got deleted and then replaced the next day by another one that says it's "PS4 and PS4 Pro first". Why would they feel the need to delete and clarify the original tweet if it's indeed exclusive? Again, weird.
- We know Sony has helped to some extent (Providing level geometry and stuff like that), but the game itself was made entirely from the ground up, with no reused assets from the originals. That technically means it's a brand new game and it likely doesn't fit the exclusivity contract from the original trilogy.
- Activision is publishing the game. Also, it's freaking Activision. Remember GoldenEye 007 on the Wii? That was exclusive right? Exactly. It was exclusive to the Wii, but then it was released on other platforms a year later.
- No "Only on PlayStation" label on the boxart. I've checked the final boxart from every region and none of them have it.
- This game's marketing barely mentions the PS4, if at all. Read the description in any of the videos from the official Crash Bandicoot channel on YouTube or from places like the Activision blog and you'll see what I mean.
- This developer interview by Metro had the following question:
Metro: "So, is this collection a permanent PlayStation exclusive or just a timed one?"
Dev: "Right now I'm saying it's released on June 30th on PS4 and PS4 Pro [laughs]"
Don't know about you guys, but this sounds sketchy to me. She could've simply said "Yes, it's PS4 exclusive", but it looks like she tried to dodge the question.
If it's indeed exclusive I have no problem with it, but this extremely confusing messaging is what's getting annoying, because it gives me hope for a multiplatform release that may never happen. Anyways, that's it guys, take all this info as you will.