Final Fantasy 14 has been available on PlayStation 4 for some time now, but no announcement has been made regarding whether or not it will eventually come to the Xbox One. Phil Spencer explained that the exclusivity was due to business arrangements and platform exclusivity. He said, “It’s business. As I’ve grow in this role, and I’ve tried to learn the third-party exclusivity thing—and you see us doing less of it now—I’ve found it’s not something I’m a huge fan of.”
Spencer reaffirmed that he wishes to bring different aspects of a game to the Xbox One instead of make deals for third-party exclusive titles like the competition. Bringing mods first to Xbox One in a game like Fallout 4 and making EA Access exclusive to the device are just two examples of his commitment. Spencer added, “Different kind of deals happen, and I know that’s part of this business, and maybe it’ll be my failing in the end, but it’s not something I specifically embrace with any deal that’s out there, whether it’s something else. It’s just not something I can explicitly talk to.”
Before people mention Rise of the Tomb Raider and its exclusivity, take into account that Microsoft is helping develop the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of the game. That’s why they’re coming first to the consoles. Microsoft has provided technical support and expertise to Crystal Dynamics as they make the game. It’s only fair that it release first on Xbox.
Expect less third-party exclusives in the future and more first-party titles. I feel that the Xbox One game catalog will grow significantly in the future with first-party games dominating the field. It’s funny how many analysts and insiders predicted that first-party games would die out and that it would be all about multiplatform titles. Just because the competition can’t afford to develop expensive games due to financial constraints doesn’t mean Xbox has to go the same route. We’ve seen so many amazing new first-party games come to Xbox One since Phil Spencer took over. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Source: IGN
Asher is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 1110 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: wrote over 1,100 ICXM pieces on Xbox news, hardware reviews, and platform commentary before joining Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017.