Console exclusivity will eventually become a thing of the past for PlayStation as it has with Xbox, due to how consoles and the market as a whole have changed, the Moon Studios CEO believes.
In a lengthy post on X, Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler talked about Xbox’s current approach, saying that it is the right one for several reasons. A few years back, the studio decided not to make No Rest for the Wicked under Microsoft because it would have prevented the game from being released on PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch and would have impacted the game considerably as the studio felt that multiplayer and cross-play are an important part of the experience.
Elaborating further on the limitations of console exclusivity, the Moon Studios CEO gives a very interesting example. Over the years of communicating with Phil Spencer, Thomas Mahler always brought up how crazy it would be if certain DVDs would only play on players made by certain manufacturers. If this is crazy for movies, Mahler asks, then why is it different with games, considering how both PlayStation and Xbox consoles are powered by essentially the same hardware and have the same controller? At the same time, the console audience hasn’t been growing, and for the entire industry to grow, access to content must be easier. This is achieved by reducing the cost of entry, which is what Microsoft is doing with its current strategy. For these reasons, Thomas Mahler concludes, he would be surprised if Sony didn’t follow Microsoft’s strategy, and bring an end to the days of PlayStation exclusive releases.
I know some people always want me to join the console warring, but I strongly believe that @XboxP3 has the right approach.
We decided a few years back not to make @wickedgame under Microsoft because back then we couldn’t have shipped it for PlayStation and Switch and since we… https://t.co/A0913IXMkx
— thomasmahler (@thomasmahler) January 25, 2025
Microsoft started doing away with Xbox exclusives last year and has since released multiple games on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, including Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves. With Microsoft Flight Simulator, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and others also rumored to launch on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, it will be very interesting to learn if Microsoft’s strategy will pay off in such a big way that Sony will consider following suit.
