Console exclusives might be making a comeback

The near future of game consoles could look a lot like the past. Once a hallmark of the industry, over the last few years console-exclusive games have steadily become rare, as the likes of Sony and Microsoft experimented with offering titles on multiple platforms. Heck, who knows what an Xbox even is anymore? But it seems that the experiments haven’t paid off. Signs are pointing to the return of exclusives, as companies lean on other ways to entice new audiences.

The idea was that by offering games like God of War and The Last of Us in other places, particularly ubiquitous ones like PC and mobile, it would attract new players who would — ideally — go on to buy a PS5. But that never really happened, and Bloomberg notes that the PC ports didn’t sell especially well, and that some inside Sony worried that the strategy was diluting the PlayStation brand. With that in mind, moving on from the multiplatform strategy makes sense.

But there are hints that Microsoft too could be scaling back here as well, though it’s much less clear than with Sony. As part of a big leadership shakeup, new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma said that one of her goals was to focus on “our core Xbox fans and players.” And while she noted that “gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware,” she still emphasized “a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console which has shaped who we are.” Perhaps more tellingly, in response to a fan on X about the importance of exclusive games, Sharma replied simply “Hear you.”

What both of these shifts signify is that multiplatform releases haven’t done the job of driving players to buy consoles like these companies expected. You only need to look at Nintendo to see a more clear-cut example of this at play. The company never released games on rival consoles, but it made a big splash in the world of mobile with Super Mario Run, with the explicit intention of introducing its games to new audiences. “I feel like Mario was what introduced millions of people to video games and interactive entertainment, and I think that Mario will continue to serve that role,” Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto told me in 2016. “And I think with Super Mario Run that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Even with Miyamoto involved, Mario Run didn’t perform as expected, and Nintendo has steadily retreated from mobile to focus on exclusive games for its own platforms. But the dream of luring in new audiences never went away; it simply took on a different form. Instead of putting Mario games on non-Nintendo devices, the company has brought its mascot and other characters to different mediums, like film and theme parks. It built an entertainment empire with a video game console at its center.

It’s a strategy that both Sony and Microsoft appear to be following as well. Both have seen success through the likes of HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us and a Fallout show on Prime Video, and there are plenty of more projects on the way. When they work, these shows do the job intended by multiplatform games — introducing these franchises to new audiences — without cannibalizing sales or diluting a console’s image. And coupled with major exclusives, the strategy gives that new audience a reason to invest in a console. That’s especially important now, when dedicated consoles have become a tougher sell with more competition and steadily rising prices.

For a while it looked like the future of gaming was multiplatform. But as the biggest console makers refocus on exclusives, part of that future might actually be found outside of games.