Sony admits that the day of Exclusive Publishing is past.

Software sales drive the bottom line, not platform loyalty now.

by XboxOZ360:

©2008 Grant Smythe:

I’ve been saying this for at least the last 18 months or more. That 3rd Party Exclusivity with major companies such as Sony, MS and Nintendo will be and is a thing of the past. So it was great to finally get some validation around that when seeing a recent interview with Sony’s president of Sony Computer Entertainment Euorpe David Reeves with GameIndustry.biz.

Developers and also 3rd party publishers can no longer afford to adopt the now out dated method of exclusive content for one platform. The cost of game development has risen substantially over the last few years to a point that being exclusive no longer serves the purpose it once did.

Sony is no longer the main force to be reckoned with that it once was. There are 2 more horses in the race, one of which is way ahead of the field and the other running behind it and slightly in front of Sony. So developers that once followed one platform, and who now require sales of in excess of 600,000 units within the first week or two of release, can no longer run the risk of even running “Timed Exclusives” on any one platform.

That will not and does not stop the fanboys from raising kaine however in forums and blogs across the globe. Only this week news of the so-called timed exclusive on Mirror’s Edge being published by EA leaked out. A comment from a Sony’s very own same David Reeves sparked the rumour which ran across the net like rumours usually do, turning a comment into fact within hours.

EA’s DICE was quick on the heels to squash the rumour, stating clearly that the game would ship on the Xbox 360, Games For Windows and PS3 at the same time.

DICE’s comment: “We know so far nothing. But it is possible that there is collusion at the highest level, of which we are still not informed.” So far, the developers assume that Mirror’s Edge will release at year-end on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC simultaneously.”

EA or any other publishing house for that matter can not afford to do such things now. Square Enix, the once staple Sony game supplier of all things Final Fantasy XIII their front title is now shipping on the 360 as well at the PS3, as they know they can no longer afford not to.

It would be suicide to do so, ruling out any real exclusive content for future games. Sure, there will be 1st Party Exclusive titles, that’s a given, but the day of Exclusivity amongst 3rd Party developers and publishers with the 3 majors is over.

As David Reeves commented in the recent interview with Gameindustry.biz’s  Phil Elliott and Pat Garratt.

“It does, and I put it this way: we believe that investment in our own intellectual properties – as particularly Phil Harrison and I tried to do in the last five years with SingStar, or with The Getaway, or with Buzz! – these are ours, we can put them in our cupboard,” he said. “It’s like a patent. We can take them forward.

“We have to accept more and more that platform holders themselves cannot have exclusives unless they’re given millions and millions of dollars not to develop a particular game for one particular platform.

“But for developers, and you could take someone like Quantic Dream for example – a great game, it takes a lot of time to develop, they need a little bit of funding, external development. In exchange, it’s exclusive – that works. So exclusivity possibly with developers is more likely that exclusivity with publishers.”

But while his statement does hint at his belief that development could still exists, many developers have other ideas around that. They see that in order to get their product, which has cost them substantial time, energy and funds, needs to be in the hands of a publisher or 1st party company that will get it to as many buyers as possible. Not be limited by platform and allow maximum returns for their investment.

If we look at his reference to Quantum Dream, that’s more inline with a first party title rather than supporting a 3rd party developer who’s walked in from the street and under the aid of other publishing houses.

Turn 10, RARE, Lionhead Studios etc are all independent Studios, but they have licensed their IP for that specific title with MS Xbox-Div. These sorts of deals will remain, but the day of exclusivity for the likes of any major 3rd party games are definitely in the outer edges, and have a very limited shelf life now. By mid ’09, such deals will be almost non existent.

Which will be a good thing actually, as it will force the 1st party titles being supported bythe majors to be much more polished and refined before release, as a great deal will be riding on them, and if they do not get the return needed, the developer could well take its bat and ball and go elsewhere. There’s a huge market out there now, not like there was just 4 years ago when Sony was the only real platform on offer, to speak of sales wise.

For a detailed viewpoint, check out his interview with GameIndustry.biz. in full.

©2008 Grant Smythe:

Filed under: 1st Party Titles, 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, Industry News, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | David Reeves, Exclusive games, Lionhead Studios, rare, SCEE, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Turn 10