Losing platform exclusives is no concern for Microsoft

by Nathan Misa Featured 24 Comments 37 Votes 3497 Views 27/09/2012 Back to Articles

Earlier today, EA announced the Mass Effect Trilogy for the Xbox 360, PC and PS3, marking the first time the original Mass Effect, released nearly five years ago in 2007, will be made available for Playstation 3 owners.

While everyone is excited for the compilation, the trilogy’s release indicates that Microsoft are not only no longer interested in securing or creating new platform exclusives, but also in keeping existing properties they themselves published from being lost to competitors.

Another heavily marketed Xbox 360 exclusive lost.

The original Mass Effect was published by Microsoft Studios, and this fact led many to believe that the game would never make its way to a Sony console and remain an Xbox 360 console exclusive. When EA brought over Mass Effect 2 to the PS3 in 2011, everyone had to make do with Mass Effect: Genesis, an interactive comic that allowed players to make several major plot decisions of the first game that impact the story of Mass Effect 2.

Try as they might, but Playstation owners could never experience the “full” trilogy and the satisfaction of experiencing and carrying over all of their choices and decisions from game-to-game. That was, until today’s announcement, which is sure to make every Mass Effect fan happy, PS3 owners especially.

For 360 owners, I think the loss of the original Mass Effect has further exposed just how flawed and concerning Microsoft’s handling of its exclusives is.

The fact that the original Mass Effect was a Microsoft Studios-published game and is now jumping ship to their primary competitor’s console is just embarrassing. If Microsoft can’t or won’t bother to create new exclusives, then they could theoretically at least make an effort to keep their existing ones that they themselves published from being lost to competitors... right? Well, looks like that's not even the case.

Around the announcement of ME2 jumping to the PS3 in late 2010, Microsoft commented on their thoughts of the franchise's jump to a multiplatform title.

"With both Mass Effect titles launching first on Xbox 360 combined with the wealth of available paid downloadable content on Xbox Live today, Xbox 360 remains the best place to experience the Mass Effect franchise.

That was all fine and dandy, as it was true to an extent, as PS3 owners would never experience the first title on their console of choice. Then, to reassure fans:

"And the original Mass Effect is absolutely an Xbox 360 exclusive, making Xbox 360 the only place to get the full Mass Effect experience."

Yet here we are. Microsoft are well known for securing “timed-exclusive” deals relating to DLC, such as with Skyrim, and the sudden announcement of ME1 coming to the PS3 could be a signifier of Microsoft merely securing BioWare’s original title for a certain amount of time rather than for the entirety of the console’s lifetime. Or it could be that they let EA buy out their publishing rights to the first title. Whatever the case, it makes me wonder why Microsoft bothered marketing and reassuring 360 owners that it was an Xbox 360 exclusive at all.

Is the company's attitude reflective of their console's wider gaming community simply no longer caring for exclusives? Do new unique games or the securing of existing exclusives even matter when the Xbox 360 is doing so well, sales-wise?

Exclusive seems to no longer be a term recognised by Microsoft.

This isn’t the first time that a Microsoft-published video game jumped ship and the company seemed to let it happen: Ninja Gaiden 2, also published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360 in 2008, suddenly and surprisingly jumped over to PS3 a year later as Ninja Gaiden Sigma, an updated version with more content, published by Tecmo Koei. While not as big as Mass Effect, its status as a Microsoft-published product jumping to Sony is just face-palm worthy. Again: why did they bother to market and present it as an exclusive at all?

Exclusives still matter. Maybe not for everyone, but for a lot of people they still do, especially those who aren’t merely satisfied with entertainment apps or annual Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed’s or Halo. Little things like ME1’s jump are proving concerning as to the direction Microsoft are taking their console and brand -- and while the whole “entertainment hub” thing is making things great for them business-wise, their continued lack of care for exclusives -- whether in creating new experiences or securing existing ones from being lost -- doesn’t make the future of their brand any less concerning.

Is the loss of Mass Effect indicative of Microsoft’s lack of care for exclusives -- both existing ones and in creating new properties? Do exclusives matter (in relation to the Xbox 360) anymore for you?

By Nathan Misa

Link to us http://360.mmgn.com/Articles/losing-platform-exclusives-is-no-concern-27765

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Kudos: 298,781

Tano

Exclusives really only remain as such if the developer is a first-party and own by the platform holder in some capacity.

A game like ME was always eventually going to go cross-platform, just as the series has.

Microsoft never really had many exclusives, and they really only exists around the time of their console launches.

Halo is No.1 for them. 2nd is the entertainment brand, which their pushing.

Sad things to come for Xbox fanboys.

27/09/2012

"Niko! Cousin!"

Kudos: 73,689

Tsunamo

And the original Mass Effect is absolutely an Xbox 360 exclusive, making Xbox 360 the only place to get the full Mass Effect experience.

Lets not forget PC now Microsoft.

27/09/2012

[Perth, W.A | MMGN]

Kudos: 34,011

Blob

Microsoft seem more focused on having a media hub rather than a games console, and they don't need exclusives for that (minus a sprinkle of Halo and Fable).
For a gamer though, why pick up the next gen Xbox over Wii U or PS4 if things stay this way?
(though that's the same way I looked at the 360 but people seem to love it somehow)

27/09/2012

Your mums bed

Kudos: 1,922

The_Boss

I find Microsoft likes to partner up with 3rd party publishers like Activision.

28/09/2012

Straight out of Bel Air

Kudos: 51,526

Milky

And Sony lost Crash Bandicoot to the other consoles as well... which, at the time, was a much bigger loss than Mass Effecti is to MS. It is afterall a 5-year old game in a series that has now concluded.

You can find exclusives for all brands/consoles that then become available to all. It is part of the business.

EDIT: Sony also lost exclusives rights to GTA and Resident Evil... 2 of the biggest series ever.

28/09/2012

come on, i only want a cuddle!

Kudos: 2

Lopaka959

Ill look at this as a trade off. xbox clearly dont care about exclusive titles anymore. ps3 is about to flood the market with exclusives titles over the next 6 months.

i couldnt feel justified as a gamer without having something of my own that i cant get anywhere else. thats the whole point of competition, it pushes the competitive nature of all developers to make better games, im all for exclusive, this is a blow for xbox..entertainment hub, lol..

granted all their efforts are MORE-THEN-LIKELY being geard toward the 720 now

29/09/2012

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

Milky said: And Sony lost Crash Bandicoot to the other consoles as well... which, at the time, was a much bigger loss than Mass Effect is to MS. It is afterall a 5-year old game in a series that has now concluded.

You can find exclusives for all brands/consoles that then become available to all. It is part of the business.

EDIT: Sony also lost exclusives rights to GTA and Resident Evil... 2 of the biggest series ever.

My point of concern was more the fact that ME was a Microsoft Studios-published game. I always sort of considered the Mass Effect series to be lost to multiplatform status when ME2 jumped to PS3 in 2010. ME jumping to the PS3 just seems to be an indication that Microsoft don't care about creating or retaining properties they've published, regardless of whether or not they're first-party or third-party developed like ME was. That is concerning for the future of brand, particularly because the jump it too their primary competitor. Sony could afford to lose some, but Microsoft already has a limited range to begin with, so it's a little more noticeable.

RE and GTA in addition were never exclusive to Sony, and both had games jump to other platforms long before this generation, which is the gen I'm discussing.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

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Foetoid

Reminds me of Resident Evil 4 being exclusive to Nintendo Gamecube. That was a huge deal, and it was eventually ported to the Ps2. More content and worse graphics, but at least they fixed the non-anamorphic widescreen debacle that was the GC version.

30/09/2012

Sunshine Coast

Kudos: 1,495

CptAwesome

lol relax people, just cause microsoft gave up ONE game, which is years old doesnt mean they "dont care about exclusives anymore etc". think about it, look how old me1 is, its made all the sales its gonna make on xbox... WHY NOT give it to playstation too? think of how much money they made that way. i dont see anyone running out to buy an xbox just cause they dont have mass effect 1 anyway lol.

i dont exactly see them giving up gears of war, halo, fable, forza, etc... so where does the mindset of microsoft not caring about exclusives anymore come from??

sometimes u need to stop taking the smallest things out of proportion and exaggerating it so much and make it so big that u make an article about it lol

30/09/2012

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

Pretty much my same responsive above to Milky. While it's only one exclusive, it's a Microsoft-published one, and it's one more down the line for them. It's more noticeable because they already have a limited range of exclusives to begin with. Sure, Halo, Gears, Fable and Forza will never jump due to being in-house, but that's all they've got really that everyone knows will never jump to multiplatform. Microsoft haven't made an effort to create new IPs or retain other existing ones and it's very visible, and only becoming more visible with the slow but gradual loss of games like the original ME.

30/09/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 1,495

CptAwesome

Tyrus said: and only becoming more visible with the slow but gradual loss of games like the original ME.

ONE game does not qualify as "gradual loss of games"... again you are exaggerating it using carefully placed words. like Milky said, sony lost gta and resident evil, which are HEAPS bigger franchises than mass effect. i dont see an article about sony not caring about their exclusives anymore :S

30/09/2012

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

An article about Sony not caring about their exclusives anymore would be harder to write and harder to argue due to the numerically superior amount of in-house games Sony themselves facilitate and publish, as well as having several more first, second and third-party studios loyal to them discards any similar notion or possible counter-argument that Sony don't care, create or retain exclusive franchises.

Sony lost Crash, RE and GTA to multiplatform releases, but the staggering amount of exclusive franchises and first-party developers they have compared to Microsoft means it's less of a visible hit, and thus there is less concern and less argument that Sony as a brand are faltering on the exclusive side of things. Microsoft losing ME is more significant and visible because they already have a small amount of exclusives to begin and their publicly criticised and concerning statements about exclusives: www.eurogamer.net/...

Sony additionally never published GTA or Resident Evil. So, while the loss of the two of those franchises was big for them, it wasn't embarrassing or hurtful for Sony as a brand because a.) they have way more exclusive franchises then MS, and b.) Sony didn't publish or help in the development of either of them before the two titles jumped ship. Microsoft, however, published the original Mass Effect.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 1,495

CptAwesome

Ok, so ur argument is "Sony has more exclusives, therefore they care about keeping them more than Microsoft". But ur missing the fact that they have also LOST more exclusives, and not just that, the exclusives that they lost were way bigger franchises than mass effect, so I think it's fair to say that more than evens it up, regardless if mass effect was published by Microsoft. Like I said before, when it's an old game and they've made all the sales they're gonna make out of it, why not make more money by giving it to Sony? No one is gonna run out and by an Xbox just for mass effect 1, whereas gta and resident evil might have been a different story. It's a win for Microsoft, not a loss.

My point is, this whole news piece went from "Microsoft loses one game to Sony" to "gradual loss of games" to "MICROSOFT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVES ANYMORE". At least that's what I got out of it.

I just can't take this article seriously. Don't turn MMGN into fox news and make a news story out of nothing.

01/10/2012

Kudos: 657

mjolnirlol

CptAwesome said: Ok, so ur argument is "Sony has more exclusives, therefore they care about keeping them more than Microsoft". But ur missing the fact that they have also LOST more exclusives, and not just that, the exclusives that they lost were way bigger franchises than mass effect, so I think it's fair to say that more than evens it up, regardless if mass effect was published by Microsoft. Like I said before, when it's an old game and they've made all the sales they're gonna make out of it, why not make more money by giving it to Sony? No one is gonna run out and by an Xbox just for mass effect 1, whereas gta and resident evil might have been a different story. It's a win for Microsoft, not a loss.
My point is, this whole news piece went from "Microsoft loses one game to Sony" to "gradual loss of games" to "MICROSOFT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVES ANYMORE". At least that's what I got out of it.
I just can't take this article seriously. Don't turn MMGN into fox news and make a news story out of nothing.

SNAP! well said lol :P

01/10/2012

manly

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

CptAwesome said: Ok, so ur argument is "Sony has more exclusives, therefore they care about keeping them more than Microsoft".

Read my comment more carefully. In response to you saying "i dont see an article about sony not caring about their exclusives anymore", I said that because of several obvious factors, one being that Sony has more prominent exclusives than Microsoft, that it would be harder or more illogical for me or anyone else to perhaps write a similar article stating that Sony don't care about exclusives, when, in fact, they visibly do in the amount they have alone. This is just my opinion. Not many of Sony's big franchises this gen have jumped to the 360 (have any?), where-as ME was initially marketed by Microsoft as their very big reason to own a 360 way back in 2007. I can only think of Final Fantasy or Tekken or GTA or RE, but all of them aren't Sony published, and all of them have jumped onto other consoles prior to this gen, which is the gen I'm discussing. In the scope I'm covering, they don't count as losses to Sony. Games like Heavy Rain, Ratchet and Clank, or Jak and Daxter (all exclusives, but third-party developed and published by Sony) would count as losses.

CptAwesome said:But ur missing the fact that they have also LOST more exclusives, and not just that, the exclusives that they lost were way bigger franchises than mass effect, so I think it's fair to say that more than evens it up, regardless if mass effect was published by Microsoft.

Did you read my comment? The two examples you mentioned, RE and GTA, were never truly exclusive to Sony consoles. What other exclusives in the PS3's lifetime are we taking about that were lost to the 360 and that were published by Sony directly? Because this article is about the Xbox 360 and this gen, and GTA and RE are franchises that jumped ship long before this gen. RE had Code Veronica jump to Dreamcast pretty early as well as RE 4 on the Gamecube, and GTA and GTA II both were ported to Sony after coming out on Microsoft Windows first, as well being ported to the Dreamcast, pretty early into their lifespan. They were never exclusive to Sony and Sony never published their titles. Capcom simply didn't take MS seriously for their RE titles until this gen, and Rockstar had already ported GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas for the original Xbox. If you're taking about a loss in solely a business perspective, then sure, but I'm talking about losses that reflect the viability of the MS brand. GTA and RE being lost haven't killed Sony's viability as a brand that can provide unique exclusive games. This article is just talking about MS's direction and exclusives this gen.

CptAwesome said:Like I said before, when it's an old game and they've made all the sales they're gonna make out of it, why not make more money by giving it to Sony? No one is gonna run out and by an Xbox just for mass effect 1, whereas gta and resident evil might have been a different story. It's a win for Microsoft, not a loss.

It's a financial/business win for MS, most definitely. I see what you're saying. But I wasn't discussing that angle. What my article was trying to target is the continuing and very visible decline in effort that MS has made in creating new exclusives for the last three years, with this article pointing out that now MS just seems not to even care about their own third-party published properties, i.e. Mass Effect, Ninja Gaiden II, being lost to their primary competitor, and how it just sucks for gamers.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

CptAwesome said: My point is, this whole news piece went from "Microsoft loses one game to Sony" to "gradual loss of games" to "MICROSOFT DOES NOT CARE ABOUT EXCLUSIVES ANYMORE". At least that's what I got out of it.
I just can't take this article seriously. Don't turn MMGN into fox news and make a news story out of nothing.

This is an opinion piece, not a news piece. It's under feature articles and clearly is written as an opinion piece, and it's just my thoughts on MS's direction and handling of exclusives, with ME being the latest example of an indication of MS's take on their exclusives. I'm glad I wound you up enough to argue with me, however. ;)

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 1,495

CptAwesome

You say your article was targeting the fact that Microsoft was not CREATING any new IPs... THAT is fair enough, I agree with u there that they should be. But the article came off to me as a Sony fanboy taking a stab at Microsoft for the tiniest thing which wasnt a big deal (although this may not be the case, this is what it came off as to me).

If the article was about notifying us that Microsoft lost mass effect to Sony, or that Microsoft needs more IPs, that's fine. That would be a more plausible article and probably a good read. But dude, look at the title of the article.

"Losing platform exclusives no longer a concern for Microsoft".

Can you seriously tell me that does not give the wrong message? Does this not imply that losing Gow, halo, fable, forza, etc is "No longer a concern for Microsoft?" Maybe creating new IPs aren't a concern for them, but LOSING exclusives is still very much important for them

01/10/2012

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

My article is an extension of the topic of Microsoft not creating new IPs. So while that is a part of it, the focus was on how MS seem to not only not make an effort in creating new IPs, but also in retaining some of their existing exclusives. Mass Effect jumping to PS3 was seen as indication to me of Microsoft's continuing lack of effort in the exclusives department, and as a gamer, it concerns me. I don't really care about the business or sales side of the decision or how good it was for the company: I'm a gamer, not an executive or stakeholder in Microsoft. Also, how am I a Sony fanboy? If you've read my past articles, you'll see I'm a big Xbox 360 gamer and supporter and have only just bought a PS3 this year. I have also expressed concern about MS's direction in the past.

What made Mass Effect 1's jump stand out to me is that Microsoft published the game and marketed it heavily as one to own a 360 for. The article was notifying people, if they hadn't read the news of the ME trilogy already, that Microsoft has lost ME to Sony, and it did touch on MS needing new IPs (I have already made a past entire article on this topic: 360.mmgn.com/... but the focus is on how they aren't even bothering to retain their existing ones too in light of Mass Effect's jump to the PS3, and how that is reflective of a concerning future direction with their exclusives.

I of course didn't mention Halo or Forza because they're developed in-house as well as published. That would be like Uncharted or God of War jumping ship, which will never happen. But there are many second and third-party games MS have published and marketed heavily as exclusive to them, like ME, Ninja Gaiden, Viva Pinata, Kingdom Under Fire, that have jumped ship, and that kind of sucks compared to Sony, who have lost pretty much no first, second or third-party exclusive games. Like I said before, GTA, RE, Final Fantasy and Tekken (the only ones I can think of that people will argue against me with) doesn't count because they're not third-party exclusive to Sony, and never were, even before this gen. Perhaps Crash Bandicoot is the sole exception as that was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony, but that happened two generations ago, and I'm taking about this generation of gaming. Plus the loss of Crash is less concerning because Sony have a ridiculous amount of exclusive franchises that the one loss is not as bad, whereas MS has much less, so it's more visible.

The title of an opinion article needs to stand out. The title literally stands for my opinion: that Microsoft just don't seem to be concerned any more in losing some of their exclusives, Mass Effect being the most recent and timely example. I didn't use quotation marks as if it was an official quote or news-piece, so the only way the message could be mis-interpreted was if you didn't read the article carefully and see it was an opinion piece discussing Microsoft-published games jumping ship. To me, with their limited range of exclusive anyway, the way they've handled some of their properties like Alan Wake, and the way they've just let go of others like Ninja Gaiden II, Viva Pinata, and ME, it just seems to me like they have little concern for creating or retaining new IPs. It's all mostly about entertainment apps and sitting comfortably with sequels to Halo now. Of course they still care about Halo or Gears and even Fable and Forza not being lost to competitors, but that seems to be about it really. Hopefully they step-up next gen and remember why gamers flocked to their console in the early years.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 26,651

OllyEbbz

Girls, girls its just an article man!

Although i have to agree with @CptAwesome cause well he's awesome isn't he? :P
The 360 is coming to the end of it's life-cycle, expect new ips on the 720. Keeping ME exclusive imo wasn't doing anything for them anyway, i mean it's 5 years old! Microsoft published or not maybe the arguement here is that MS should have aquired Bioware rather than EA getting the entire series exclusive. I'm sure MS made a few buck giving it up anyway.

01/10/2012

Lives in the United Kingdom.

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

I see your point, Olly. Like I said above though, I was talking about my concern on the way MS handles its exclusives (both in creating new ones and retaining them) and how it sucks for Xbox gamers. ME was the latest example of the lame way MS handles it's exclusives, despite its age as a five-year old game. I didn't talk about the business side because I am not a stakeholder in Microsoft's company, and sure they made "a few bucks"; however, I am a gamer, and I do like having reasons to purchase one console over another. How can we expect MS to change their attitude for the 720? Of course there will be new IPs as you say, but will they handle and sell them off the same way they do with ME down the track? Probably.

They probably should have bought BioWare. I thought they would have learned after publishing Jade Empire and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for the original Xbox. They were awesome games.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 1,495

CptAwesome

your whole argument is putting microsoft down for losing an exclusive (although the franchise has been non-exclusive for a while now, so losing me1 after 2 and 3 have been out all this time shouldnt really matter anyway).

IMHO, this is a GOOD thing. u say ur not a stakeholder for microsoft, and that your a gamer... then tell me why this is at all a 'bad thing'? if we are truly gamers and not fanboys, we should be happy that games are getting shared across platforms, instead of sony being babies and saying "NO, MINE". i think it sucks that xbox isnt getting titles like last of us and beyond, and the fact that microsoft just gave sony mass effect should be an example.

microsoft is being the bigger man here, so to speak. as a gamer, we should embrace games getting shared across platforms, not put microsoft down for it. and again, its ONE game, so stop saying microsoft has a non-caring attitude about exclusives in every post.

in the end, no matter how many exclusives and games sony has, i will NEVER get a playstation, for the sole reason that i hate their controllers. sharing is caring :)

01/10/2012

Kudos: 35,617

Tyrus

I respect your opinion and I see where you're coming from. But I still don't agree on MS "being the bigger man", I don't understand that viewpoint at all. If all games were embraced and shared across all platforms, there's no reason to have one over the other. One unified console isn't going to happen anytime soon. The PS3 and PC have several multiplatform releases shared with the 360, and they provide unique games to encourage people to play on them rather than the competitor. Why can't we enjoy, as gamers, having unique games to play on the console we chose (this article focusing on the 360)? Why can't Microsoft do the same and secure more than just five exclusive franchises, or retain their existing ones? It's a 'bad thing' because they're forgetting the importance of exclusives to many gamers. Though I recognise that there are some gamers (such as yourself) who don't seem to be interested in exclusives as much.

01/10/2012

Senior Games Writer and Reviewer for MMGN and GamesFix. Twitter: @nathmisa.

Kudos: 207,555

M@ndyz

Tyrus said: I respect your opinion and I see where you're coming from. But I still don't agree with your opinion about MS "being the bigger man", I don't understand that viewpoint at all. If all games were embraced and shared across all platforms, there's no reason to have one over the other. One unified console isn't going to happen anytime soon. The PS3 and PC have several multiplatform releases shared with the 360, and they provide unique games to encourage people to play on them rather than the competitor. Why can't we enjoy, as gamers, having unique games to play on the console we chose (this article focusing on the 360)? Why can't Microsoft do the same and secure more than just five exclusive franchises, or retain their existing ones? It's a 'bad thing' because they're forgetting the importance of exclusives to many gamers. Though I recognise that there are some gamers (such as yourself) who don't seem to be interested in exclusives as much.

I totally agree.. For example the wii u is coming out and if it wasn't for mario and zombieu why would I bother buying it for games such as darksiders 2 or batman, which I clearly have on PC. Why would someone need an Xbox if say halo 4 was released on everything else? :S

01/10/2012

Add me on steam........... bootie [mmgn] Or raptr.......... bootie101 Or wiiu. actually don't add me on wiiu im never on it :p