In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a “shift in mentality” among multiple video game publishers that will undoubtedly change the gaming industry going forward. That “mentality” is the desire to have “numerous exclusive titles that don’t go anywhere else.” To be fair, it’s a classic mentality that goes back to some of the earliest days of the console wars. Exclusivity literally means you “can only play the games on this system,” and that increases buys, in theory, for that platform and game. The PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and the Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 all do this today, with varying degrees of success.
However, the twist is that in recent times, Xbox, Sony, and publishers like Square Enix have had major hits and financial losses due in part to these exclusive games, and as a result, have decided to take a more multiplatform approach to gaming. That brings us to a report by PushSquare, which cited a now-deleted post from Circana that noted how the top PS5 titles of the most recent quarter, April to June, were primarily former Xbox exclusives.
Forza Horizon 5, The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion Remasters, Doom The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle, and more were all on that list. Furthermore, the racing game was previously noted to have sold over three million units on the PlayStation 5. That’s very impressive, but what does it all mean in the long run?
First, let’s talk hard sales numbers. Easily one of the biggest reasons why these games are doing so well on PS5 is that they weren’t available there before, and the Sony console has well over double the sales of the Xbox Series X/S. That means that there’s a much larger base who are interested in these games than what Microsoft has on its platform.
The irony here is that this isn’t “new news.” If you recall, when Call of Duty Black Ops 6 released last year, it may have been “owned by Xbox,” but it was a multi-platform game, and it sold best on Sony’s system. In fact, it sold so well on the PlayStation 5 that Microsoft became the “biggest publisher on PlayStation” through sales of that game alone.
The reason many will call this a negative for Xbox is that this further highlights how people are more willing to play their games on other systems than simply get an Xbox and play it on its “natural home.”
But hey! Microsoft can technically point to PS5 and now say, “This is an Xbox!”
