By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
SvennoJ on 16 June 2013
Edit Thread
bugrimmar said:
SvennoJ said:

Why would publishers fear second hand sales more then being able to play 2 instances of the same disc simultaneously, and in total 11 people (in different time zones) having access to those games, including DLC as well?

It's Ownership vs Digital license benefits.

Both sides will have exclusives but why would 3rd parties restrict themselves to one console, especially now the systems are so close in hardware setup? Most people don't own all consoles, by excluding one console you automatically lose far more sales.


The same reason EA games don't have Steam authentication. Granted, Steam and Origin are free, while the XboxOne and PS4 aren't. That's why it's a toss-up. As I said, if MS is able to do its shit right, the third parties would be attracted enough to sign up. Digital License benefits is exactly what I'm talking about. Are those benefits enough for third parties to sign over exclusivity? What are those benefits anyway?

Just like what I said: 1. No piracy, and 2. No used games. If the publisher deems these things to be big enough, they will sign exclusivity. And if enough of them do it, MS wins. IF.

Origin is something completely different. It's running on the same system. EA is not going to be able to set up it's own shop on Xbox One to avoid paying royalties to MS to use their shop. PS3 was the safest system with no piracy until Jailbreak, while the 360 was already hacked. That didn't sway publishers towards the ps3.

It's simply a numbers game. Let's say the consoles are head to head again (doubt that will happen), MS would have to pay quite a big sum for a publisher to neglect all those potential ps4 sales. The costs for making a port will be far far less this gen. Plus ps4 is charging for online now too. Another reason gone for publishers to go with paid for MS servers and avoid ps3's bandwidth fees. That will be equal now too.

MS might be able to secure timed exclusivity again here and there, but so far the benefits to go exclusive simply aren't there.
- Xbox One only 21 countries at launch, vs worldwide reach.
- 2nd hand sales vs day 1 play on 2 consoles at the same time plus 10 share game + dlc without distance limits.

As with investing publishers will want to spread their risks. It would be stupid to sign exclusivity to one system. Now if one system runs away in sales like the ps2, maybe they won't bother with a port. However since ports are far easier this time, with cross platforms engines everywhere, it would still be dumb to ignore those extra sales.