Why are more and more former exclusives not exclusive anymore?

[Jester Joe]

Maybe, but PC isn't console.

It's in the same exact field of competition though.

A mobile phone game can be made more simple and used for microtransactions, hence Pokemon Go, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing, etc.
Making a game on the PC would be similar to making one for their own console.

[Tech614]

Maybe, but PC isn't console.

I would expect to see a Nintendo game on Xbox before PC(and neither is gonna happen just saying). Nintendo the most super finicky publisher when it comes to piracy, so much that they go after rom sites hosting 20-30 year old games putting their games on PC? LOL, good luck convincing them that's a good idea.

[Rogalicus]

It's in the same exact field of competition though.

A mobile phone game can be made more simple and used for microtransactions, hence Pokemon Go, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing, etc.
Making a game on the PC would be similar to making one for their own console.

It's arguable. They can compete with other console producers, but PC is sort of neutral ground because it doesn't belong to anyone. Considering Phil Spencer's words about Microsoft going for PC this gen and if news about HZD and Dreams are true, Nintendo are losing big chunk of players to competitors.

I would expect to see a Nintendo game on Xbox before PC(and neither is gonna happen just saying). Nintendo the most super finicky publisher when it comes to piracy, so much that they go after rom sites hosting 20-30 year old games putting their games on PC? LOL, good luck convincing them that's a good idea.

Yuzu is steadily getting closer to playability, so people pirating their current game exclusives is already becoming reality.

[Jester Joe]

It's arguable. They can compete with other console producers, but PC is sort of neutral ground because it doesn't belong to anyone. Considering Phil Spencer's words about Microsoft going for PC this gen and if news about HZD and Dreams are true, Nintendo are losing big chunk of players to competitors.

I wouldn't say so at least.
Nintendo lives or dies by exclusives.

I would say it's safe to bet that most of their players are constants, people who are going to Nintendo for Nintendo. They're not going to split just because someone else is on the PC, because that's not where Nintendo is.

[Tech614]

Yuzu is steadily getting closer to playability, so people pirating their current game exclusives is already becoming reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTHawyY5vQ so close it runs at half speed! Also it ain't going to change Nintendo's stance, Dolphin was emulating Xenoblade Chronicles on day 1 of it's release back on the Wii, we aren't even close to that level yet.

[nexellent]

because exclusives are hella anti consumer

[Rogalicus]

I wouldn't say so at least.
Nintendo lives or dies by exclusives.

I would say it's safe to bet that most of their players are constants, people who are going to Nintendo for Nintendo. They're not going to split just because someone else is on the PC, because that's not where Nintendo is.

I'm not talking about their big series like Mario or Pokemon, which are probably really Nintendo's crucial exclusives, but games like Astral Chain or Xenoblade Chronicles could win by going cross platform.

[Nnyco]

Because you make more money selling games on 4 platforms rather than 1.

[Tech614]

I'm not talking about their big series like Mario or Pokemon, which are probably really Nintendo's crucial exclusives, but games like Astral Chain or Xenoblade Chronicles could win by going cross platform.

Astral Chain and Xenoblade Chronicles don't exist without Nintendo. They aren't going anywhere, and I'm not sure why we're talking about Nintendo porting their exclusives because Sony is porting a 3 year old game, of which they already had to port the game engine to PC per their deal with Kojima for Death Stranding.

Talk about taking an apple and trying to turn it into a watermelon lmfao.

- - - Updated - - -

Because you make more money selling games on 4 platforms rather than 1.

The goal of exclusives is not to sell the most copies possible, it's to get you into that ecosystem and likely to spend more money in it in the future. Why do people still not get this lol.

[Rogalicus]

Astral Chain and Xenoblade Chronicles don't exist without Nintendo.

Just like Dreams and Horizon belong to Sony, yet they are still rumoured to come to PC, just like Quantic Dreams' games that already came out. My point was these two aren't system sellers unlike Nintendo's more prominent series (Astral Chain didn't even reach one million unless I missed something), so Nintendo could achieve more sales by porting them. They most likely wouldn't though.

[dope_danny]

Better question: why are people surprised about timed exclusivity when its been a thing people have vocally complained about since the taken king at the latest?

[Djuntas]

Exclusives are absolutely cancer so I'm glad that more developers are straying away from them.

This 100%, because then the shitty buggy PC version comes 1-2 years later.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Exclusives are a horrible business practice and I hope it dies in a fire.

[letssee]

Man what I'd do for Zelda, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank on PC.

duuuude ikr.

if only there was onr platform for all games, where evry game.developer makes.games.for it, ideally pc.

and then 1 platform thata handheld. thats it.

oh well...

[Voidism]

Guessing they realized people like myself will never ever buy a console no matter what game releases exclusively. We just don't like/can play with a controller.

[Mehrunes]

That's not how it works. The console manufacturer doesn't determine what games go where.

Lets take HZD for example (and ignore that Sony owns them). They make a game, and Sony pays them a chunk of money to only release on PS4 as an exclusive. Part of their contract says they have to remain exclusive for X amount of time. Lets say X time is 3 years.

3 years passes, contract ends, HZD makers write up new paperwork to be allowed on multiple consoles. At this point, Sony isn't willing to pay as big a chunk of money to keep them exclusive, so lets them move to other platforms.

Now, since Sony OWNS the HZD makers company, the situation is that they can get more money by being on multiple consoles/platforms at this stage, than keeping it only on PS4 which is merely limiting its sales, and at this point nobody is buying a PS4 just for that.

Sony, the manufacturer of a console, making sure that a game developer develops an exclusive for their console is the manufacturer determining that the particular game in question goes where they want it to go... Which they do specifically for the very reasons @Deathknightish mentioned. Because companies don't usually spend money just because. A console manufacturer offers exclusivity to a third party developer and pays quite a bit for that because it would benefit them. Which it does by boosting the console sales (well, maybe not exclusively).

Especially since Guerilla Games is a first party studio. And it's telling that the moment you stopped ignoring that Guerilla Games is a first party studio you changed the topic of whether console manufacturers determine what games go where and started talking about why would Sony release Horizon on PCs now. Even though that in and of itself is the manufacturer determining that Horizon will come to PCs...

Because if you hadn't you'd have to admit that Sony - the manufacturer of a console - is most certainly dictating what games go where with no time constraints of any kind (unlike the situation you were talking about when you were ignoring that it's a first party studio that's the topic here) when it comes to first party games.

With the reasons as to why they would suddenly release the game on PCs not only changing nothing in that regard but actually, as mentioned above, being a case of Sony determining where the game is released. While the reasons why they waited years before doing that once again being the "it boosts console sales" reason @Deathknightish talked about.

I mean he said Zelda so your explanation doesn't apply as it's a first party game.

Both Zelda and Horizon: Zero Dawn are first party games.

[Tech614]

because exclusives are hella anti consumer

Gamers keep making this term lose meaning. Congrats.

[Mehrunes]

Man what I'd do for Zelda, Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank on PC.

Jak and Ratchet would most certainly be neat.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Guessing they realized people like myself will never ever buy a console no matter what game releases exclusively. We just don't like/can play with a controller.

I don't mind playing with a controller persay, I'm ok with it if I have to, so long as its all programmed correctly.

[Bryntrollian]

That one game you mentioned released in Feb 2017, that is 3 years of exclusivity and I doubt it's driving any console sales at this stage of it's lifespan.

A re-release on additional platforms has pretty much no downside, especially with the fact that this generation of consoles is nearing EOL.