Video game exclusivity has always been a hot topic in the gaming industry, but it became one of the few things that a lot of gamerscared about ever since Microsoft decided to purchase Activision Blizzard. Now, it seems like Xbox will be making more games exclusive to its platform even though it promised to make games accessible to more players worldwide.
The upcoming Indiana Jones video game will be one of such titles. During Microsoft’s prolonged legal tussle with the Federal Trade Commission, it was revealed that Bethesda’s new action-adventure game will be coming exclusive to PC and Xbox consoles when it releases. This continues the studio’s streak of releasing its upcoming titles only to Microsoft platforms following the launch of Starfield and Redfall this year.
Disney and ZeniMax originally agreed for Indiana Jones to be a multiplatform AAA. However, when Microsoft bought the company, it amended the deal with Disney to transition the game to a PC and Xbox exclusive. Bethesda’s Pete Hines revealed that the game was planned to launch on Game Pass on day one.
Disney has recently come out to defend the exclusivity of Indiana Jones. In an interview with Axios, Disney’s head of gaming Sean Shoptaw said that the company felt that Indiana Jones doesn’t feel “overly exclusionary.” He also explained that the deal made financial and strategic sense for Disney.
“Xbox still being one of the bigger marketplaces for games, we didn’t feel like we were going to be overly exclusionary”, Shoptaw explained. “We felt like it’s still going to reach a broad set of folks, and we felt, financially and strategically for the game, that made sense at the time.”
Disney may be rolling the dice with its agreement with Microsoft. Given that Xbox exclusives hit Xbox Game Pass on day one, The House of Mouse may be banking on the reach of the game subscription platform with Indiana Jones. The Xbox Game Pass has had recent successes with its day-one exclusives such as Starfield and Forza Motorsport. However, Redfall did flop even though it was available on the subscription service on day one due to the game being released in a terrible state.
Being on Xbox Game Pass does guarantee that millions of players will have access to Indiana Jones on launch day. Starfield recently reached 12 million players, with many of them on the subscription service. This highlights the reach of the gaming subscription platform but its lasting effect on the individual games remains to be seen.
The issue of exclusivity has recently come up again with Arkane’s announcement at The Game Awards. The Microsoft first-party studio unveiled the first trailer for Blade at the annual event, sparking debate on whether it will be exclusive to Microsoft platforms. Arkane hasn’t revealed which platforms the game is launching on, but we are betting it will be another Microsoft exclusive.
