Helldivers 2 has been a big success since it launched earlier this month, and people have noticed. This includes Xbox’s Phil Spencer, who questioned the benefits of its console-exclusivity on PS5. the game’s console exclusivity on PlayStation.
In an interview with Game File, Spencer said, “I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers–and it’s a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation–I’m not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox. If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere.”
He continued, “But I get it.” Spencer also acknowledged that Microsoft does the same practice by having exclusives of its own, and reiterated that shipping more games onto new platforms make them more accessible.
This comment might seem strange coming from Xbox, considering it had spent the last several years on an acquisition spree to bolster its first-party portfolio, even reportedly going so far as to scrap the PS5 version of Redfall when it was already in development. However, considering that Helldivers 2 is a live-service game, it would certainly benefit from having a bigger player base. Its the first Sony-published game to launch simultaneously on PS5 and PC, so the comments aren’t completely unfounded, but it’s just Xbox that’s left out of the picture here.
Microsoft has also shifted its exclusive strategy recently too, as it revealed it would be porting over four first-party games to PlayStation and Switch at a later date.
