Timed Exclusives from a Gamer POV?

[aozgolo]

I'm a PC Gamer, almost exclusively now, but there was a time when I played consoles more. This was back in a time when game libraries were largely exclusive, it was easy to decide which console to buy by which games you most wanted to play. Nowadays it's becoming much less of an issue, the majority of third party AAA, and even a healthy number of indie games are being made cross platform, allowing gamers the chance to actually choose the platform they want, as exclusives are largely limited to first party titles by the console manufacturers and most third party developers only do "timed exclusives" which for any not initiated, just means that they release a game for a certain console first, and several months later release it cross platform.

There are numerous advantages to this set up for third party developers, they often get various incentives from the console manufacturer to do a timed exclusive, to hopefully sell more units. It also allows the developer the opportunity to gauge demand and still release cross platform if they choose, and have more time to do a proper port and testing for other platforms instead of attempting a simultaneous multi-platform release.

But what about the gamers? How do you feel about timed exclusives?

An example I will use, and in truth the inspiration for this thread is Square Enix. As a long running fan of the Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series I was quite excited to see the confirmation of a NA release for Dragon Quest Builders, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and Final Fantasy XII Zodiac Age, while also dismayed that they were all announced only for PS4, which I don't own, and up until this point had no reason to own as all the games on the system I want to play are cross-platform on PC.

Now these 3 games are certainly enough to convince me it's worthwhile to buy a PS4, and I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money except... Square Enix has in the past couple of years ported a lot of their games over to PC, and usually are very quiet about it. Many games that were formerly exclusive to consoles given a sudden and unexpected port, which gives quiet hope for PC Gamers that there will be releases of these upcoming Square Enix games after a timed exclusive period fades, but zero actual confirmation, only conjecture. If I bought a PS4, and these games, only to have them ported to PC 6 months later, I would end up selling the console versions and buying them on PC, and end up with an expensive console with no further exclusives left on it I wish to play.

Bringing this back to the main topic, from my perspective Timed Exclusives seem very anti-consumer as they devalue a console's library. I recall selling over half of my PS3 game library as those titles slowly became available on PC and now it sits as an over-glorified blu-ray player that occasionally sees the likes of Shadow of Colossus HD or Red Dead Redemption put in (which may possibly become obsolete as well with the likes of Playstation Now being on PC). Whereas the likes of my PS2 and earlier systems I will never rid myself of due to the huge exclusive library of games I have for them.

So this little rant is kind of a PC Gamer problem, but I am curious to get a more varied perspective, and see what other gamers think of Timed Exclusives and whether or not they prefer them to the old way where exclusives stayed exclusive. Do you think they devalue consoles?

 

[CaitSeith]

Bloodborne is the only reason I bought a PS4. Had it been a timed exclusive, I wouldn't even had bothered, and waited for the PC version instead. I'm kinda split in this, but I can tell something for sure: timed exclusives reflect how the console gaming experience we got this two latest generations has been determined by business decisions more than ever before.

 

[tippy2k2]

To be perfectly honest, I really couldn't care less.

I probably should care more but I don't ever buy games on launch (there are one or two games a year I buy at launch and even then, they are at discounted prices, not a full $60; it's usually games that center on multiple people like Madden so having the newest version is more important to the experience than other games).

Therefore when there are timed exclusives, it would be incredibly rare for me to even notice since most of the games I play are the big hits in the backlog (for example, I just got through Metal Gear 5, just started Rise of the Tomb Raider, and have Fallout 4/Witcher 3 on deck).

I just don't buy newer games often enough for it to affect my habits.

 

[Bobular]

I would agree with you but I just don't trust PC ports of console games these days, so if its a timed exclusive to the PS4 I will probably get it for the PS4 even if I know its going to come to PC later as I think those sort of devs are more likely to skimp out on the porting.

 

[WindKnight]

Its rare I'm in a position to buy on launch day, its much more common for me to wait for sales or presents, so usually it doesn't bother me overmuch.

 

[Lufia Erim]

To be perfectly honest, I really couldn't care less.

I probably should care more but I don't ever buy games on launch (there are one or two games a year I buy at launch and even then, they are at discounted prices, not a full $60; it's usually games that center on multiple people like Madden so having the newest version is more important to the experience than other games).

Therefore when there are timed exclusives, it would be incredibly rare for me to even notice since most of the games I play are the big hits in the backlog (for example, I just got through Metal Gear 5, just started Rise of the Tomb Raider, and have Fallout 4/Witcher 3 on deck).

I just don't buy newer games often enough for it to affect my habits.

This. And I'll add. Why would i care if other people get to play something before me. I'm not so entitled that i think i deserve to get a game at the same as anyone,everyone else.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I think you've got a point there to be honest. The whole reason I bought my Wii U on day one is because I knew (at the time) that it would be the only way I would get to play the new Mario, Zelda, Smash, Metroid and, whatever new weird stuff Nintendo had up its sleeve. Sure, the third-party support might not be there but the core Nintendo games would only ever be on the Wii U and 3DS.

 

[Recusant]

There are advantages to exclusivity: you can tailor a game to a platform's hardware, software, and (most relevantly) controls.
There are advantages to non-exclusivity: spreading your game wider and exposing it the maximum possible audience, plus not propping up the whole "console war" idea which was stupid thirty five years ago and has not become less so since.
Timed exclusivity just seems like trying to have the best of both worlds, without getting either.

Of course, it doesn't directly affect me; I have neither the money nor the inclination to buy games at release- I learned my lesson from Spore. But no gamer is an island, after all.

 

[Elijin]

I saw this title and thought you meant like, the trend with things like CoD, The Division, etc getting games or dlc's 30 days before their rival platform. So I'm going to answer that first:

I don't mind 30 day delays. The only time this practice has seemed wasteful is in Destiny, where content was playstation locked for a whole year. Mostly because that content may as well not exist, as by the time it comes out, the game has moved on and rendered it irrelevant.

On to your actual point....I just cant relate to the mentality. I think its a real weird 'PC maining' issue. If I have things on other platforms.....that's...fine. I'm not going to rebuy a game later just to have it my 'primary library'.

Asking whether it devalues consoles is another PC heavy bias question. The console game doesn't cease to exist. You playing a game I've been playing for 6 months doesn't devalue my time, enjoyment, and experience with that game. Its a ridiculous question centred in a bias 'consoles only exist for the stray exclusive' which serves no purpose but to lean towards platform wars in a subtle way.

 

[Maximum Bert]

From a purely gamer POV they are bad any exclusive is bad every game should be available and tailored to every suitable platform, every game should also be localised and be available world wide at the same time for the same price and have the same content.

Now from a business point of view I can definitely see advantages to exclusivity and it may be just that they arent saying so much ok we are only going to release a game for this platform because we have a huge incentive to do so (i.e payed off) but that they just dont believe they have enough of a market on other platforms to really make it worthwhile to bring it to that one. This kind of exclusivity doesnt bother me to much but I am not a fan of the delibertely timed exclusives i.e only on Steam ,WiiU, PS4, XBOX One etc for a year because they were a great help in flooding our pockets with cash however if its exclusive to a platform for a limited time or even permanently because a platform holder financed the game and it would not exist without them doing so then I can understand that even if it does not get me jumping with joy I would rather a game I wanted exists and allows me a chance to own it than not at all.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Timed Exclusives > Exclusives.

I can wait. I rarely buy games on-premiere, playing half a year after release or more is not a problem for me. So if someone feels better about playing something a bit earlier than anyone else, "more power to you" i guess, that's how it went, no?

 

[PurplePonyArcade]

Timed exclusives are incredibly stupid, but I prefer them over true exclusives even if true exclusives make several billion times more sense. Why the hell would you pay to make you game exclusive a couple of months over a year if it does nothing to upsale your console?
Nothing in theory anyway since there are enough dumb people in the world who do not have patience or common sense and will buy the shiny object dangled in front of them even if it means buying a whole new plastic box. My preference comes from mainly being a PC gamer nowadays and I am also a patient person so I enjoy getting a PC release a few months down the line because I hate all the modern consoles. Again though timed exclusives make little sense and only exist because of dumb people with fat wallets.

 

[Weaver]

I will say timed exclusives are a good way for me to not want to play a game, where as exclusive exclusives are a good reason for me to pick up a console. I bought a PS4 just for Bloodborne and Disgaea 5.

For a timed exclusive the game just seems old to me when I can finally play it on my platform and thus doesn't seem to warrant a full price tag as in my mind it's "old".

 

[Kae]

I have such a huge backlog of games that I normally tend to play games years after they launched, so it's not really much of an issue for me as it's very rare for me to play a game at launch, since I always have something to play it doesn't seem justified to spend $60.00 on a game when I could just download one of the many games I've already bought, so they are really not much of an issue for me.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I don?t think it?s that time exclusives are bad so much as it is that the consoles don?t have enough ?meat? to capitalize on them. Currently, these ?timed exclusive? deals are struck as cash grabs to rake in the dough while something is new and fresh and hopefully dilute the competition?s stake when it?s their turn for the port, double-edge to that sword being if a game is shit, it?ll be known WELL before the competition makes a dime off of it. But if this conversation in here alone is any evidence, gamers are on to that game. Few people buy on day one, certainly too few to merit the purchase one hardware over the other. Timed exclusives essentially water down a console?s library which puts the onus on the hardware to be a selling point, and thus far, this generation of hardware has been more mess than success. None of the features that make them unique are features to sell one over the other. Between nonsense accessory debacles, flip-flopping DRM/always online policies and the first YEAR of the generation?s line-up being re-masters of games we just finished playing on the last generation, it was pretty clear that outside of additional muscle, they really had nothing unique to offer.

 

[Pseudonym]

I don't buy games close to launch, and even if I do I can wait for that launch as long as it takes a devs to make a pc version. I might buy a console if it offers me good exclusives and otherwise doesn't offend my sensibilities or exceed my budget. But even games I'm enthousiastic for ussually end up in my steam wishlist until the price is below 30, if I ever buy them at all. I'm hardly ever aware of timed exclusives because I don't keep up enough with the console wars or the precise moments games come out. Even if I would be aware I couldn't see myself caring about it, or changing my buying because of it. Honestly I just don't see the advantages of timed exclusives to anyone. I can hardly imagine that people buy an xbox one because they want to play tomb raider two months earlier. Then again, I can't imagine wanting either an xbox one or tomb raider so maybe the problem is with my imagination.