Industry Analyst Claims Nintendo And PlayStation Model Of Console Exclusives No Longer Works

Industry analyst Michael Pachter has claimed that the Nintendo and PlayStation business model of console exclusives no longer works.

[-Foxtrot]

Here we go

Microsoft changes things and suddenly it’s the right path where they are now ahead of the game and other companies are using outdated methods

Maybe the issue with AAA exclusives is the bloated budgets and thinking they have to go above and beyond on everything single little detail when they really don’t have to.

[Jin_Sakai]

Exclusives are a selling point no matter how the media try to spin it. Sony and Nintendo are doing fine and continue to sell record numbers of consoles. Gaming media needs to stop looking at Xbox failure and pinning it against the competition.

[fr0sty]

Let's rephrase that headline...

"Industry analyst claims the exclusivity model that propelled the top selling consoles to completely dominating the industry no longer works." - fixed.

[thorstein]

@frost

I'll go one better:

"Micheal Pachter Blathers on and on, once again"

[TheEroica]

Selling points for corporations, but bottlebecks for gamers and developers.... Stop shilling for corporations.

[Cacabunga]

I like Pachter.. just reverse everything he says and you get the truth

[1Victor]

Well I was about to add read the fine print “paid by Microsoft” but I then clicked it and saw it’s good old reverse psychology patchy working hard to keep his eagle eye (no) accuracy Michael pachter 🤦🏿title

[Chevalier]

Exactly. The point of exclusives is to get the customer into your ecosystem/platform. Games, accessories and subscriptions all generate revenue/profit. I don't currently own the Series X/S despite owning previous Xbox systems. Still play and enjoy 360 games and the handful of Xbox One games I own and even old OG Xbox games like exclusive King of Fighters Neowave for example, but, recent Series S/X has given me so few reasons that I haven't bothered.

So current gen Xbox have $0 from me because I got no reason to invest. Ironically I was going to take the plunge and get the couple games on PC when the rumours of them releasing on Playstation and Switch arose too. Getting Limited Run physical copies whenever they release.

Usually when I get to about 10 exclusives I really want I go ahead and make that purchase and recently I was interested in Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush, but, now I don't even need an Xbox to play either. Add in that Xbox is not really releasing physical games any more makes buying a Series X like I was planning kind of moot too. Exclusives like Avowed, Everwild, Gears 6 would be reasons to come back into their ecosystem if they don't release them on Playstation or Switch 2 however.

[GamerRN]

They are indeed a selling point. But even Sony has announced that the profit margin on exclusives are slim. Loss leader method no longer works...

[_SilverHawk_]

Sony and Nintendo have been doing things wrong so they need to hire this guy to help them. Seems like xbox method have been successful.

[Christopher]

***Selling points for corporations, but bottlebecks for gamers and developers.... Stop shilling for corporations. ***

No exclusives means hardware only matters, means focus on largest markets only, means everyone becomes publishers rather than waste money on hardware to compete against largest market, means less competition, means less innovation and advancement in hardware, means bad for consumers as a whole as competition shrinks drastically.

***But even Sony has announced that the profit margin on exclusives are slim. Loss leader method no longer works... ***

They have said the opposite. Please don't spread lies. They've said that a focus on later-date PC ports helps expand profit margins, but have confidently said that exclusives are very important to the platform and their profit margins.

***Sony and Nintendo have been doing things wrong so they need to hire this guy to help them. Seems like xbox method have been successful. ***

I hope this is sarcasm considering Microsoft admitted in court to losing to Sony and Nintendo on hardware and software sales and being last in market reach.

[Babadook7]

It bears repeating.

“Pacher is always wrong”.

And not just because he always thinks MS is making the right moves and then they fail. He’s wrong on everything.

What an idiot

[shinoff2183]

This exactly. Ms has done Sinbad these last 2 gens. Tell me why tf are we following their lead or why would we. The path to failure is not the path to follow

[TheEroica]

Your alegience is to a corporation and not your fellow gamer. Sad.

[GamerRN]

Because the market stopped growing... And the exclusives cost too much to sell to only a segment of the market...

Did that help?

[Crows90]

@eroica
Maybe his allegiance is to top quality games...

@gamern
No. Game costs are inflated and that's the problem...it doesn't cost too much unless you make it cost too much.

[Christopher]

***Because the market stopped growing... And the exclusives cost too much to sell to only a segment of the market... ***

I mean, sure, if your market is really small, that's a problem. Doesn't seem to be a problem for the other two. Kind of like how Spider-Man 2 (#4 in 2023) sold more than Starfield (#11 in 2023) even though one released on PC and Xbox.

[Christopher]

What analysis is happening here if it's just like Wall Street where every analyst just keeps repeating what the 'big dog' company says verbatim? No one is really thinking for themselves anymore, just parroting what big company say.

[AndrenNguyen1471992]

he said Game Pass will be 200 million subcribes after 10 years
LOL what an idiot!

[blackblades]

Industry analyst? should've just put Michael pachter in that spot in the title.

[Chocoburger]

But if they did then we'd know in advance it was from a useless blowhard.

[WiiU-Dude]

Because then those that know would never click the link. Lol.

[CrashMania]

'Industry analyst Michael Pachter'

Stopped reading there.

It no longer works for Microsoft because they gutted their software sales for years with gamepass, had a poor exclusive offering, as well increasingly plummeting console sales. Stop trying to lump Sony and especially Nintendo in to this basket lol.

[Rude-ro]

The problem is Microsoft pumps a lot of money into marketing of which made them relevant.
They forced Sony to spend money to compete with said marketing.
Microsoft went after third party game and content making them exclusive and used their marketing muscle to sell themselves as direct competitors.
By “marketing” I mean media more than actually commercials.
They forced Sonys hand into fighting fire with fire.
Once Sony did fight back, Microsoft was left standing there flapping in the wind.
Why? Because they do not make games.
Anything after that is just Microsoft’s pr spins to stay relevant as much as they can.
Regardless… Sony had to spend a lot of money…
Gaming budgets are through the roof.
Since Microsoft still does not make games, they buy companies… of which do/will bring in revenue…
What does Sony do now? Yes they are the leaders… but where will the market go and how much money can Sony spend depending on just their hardware or pc while Microsoft double down on major corners of the third party market?

[ZeekQuattro]

1: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe -- 60.58 million
2: Animal Crossing: New Horizons -- 44.79 million
3: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -- 33.67 million
4: The Legend of Zelda: BOTW -- 31.61 million
5: Super Mario Odyssey -- 27.65 million
6: Pokemon Sword/ Pokemon Shield -- 26.17 million
7: Pokemon Scarlet/ Pokemon Violet -- 24.36 million
8: Super Mario Party -- 20.34 million
9: The Legend of Zelda: TOTK -- 20.28 million
10: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe -- 17.2 million

Looks like exclusives are working just fine for Nintendo.

[AndrenNguyen1471992]

the outdate analyst want to make console wars to be famous
get away from him bro

[isarai]

Sure 🤣

[CrimsonWing69]

Well, there was this article:

https://www.gamesindustry.b...

“ During an earnings call following the release of its latest financial results, Sony president and COO Hiroki Totoki told investors that making PlayStation exclusives multi-platform would help its operating income improve, which was down 15% to ¥979.4 billion ($6.5 billion).

"A potential driver for [growth] is the first-party title generation because in the past we wanted to popularise consoles," Totoki said (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha). "The purpose of the first-party title was to make the hardware or the console popular. But there is a synergy to it.

"If we have strong first-party content, not only with our console, but also other platforms like computers [we] can help operating profit to improve."

With the success of Helldivers 2 and leaks showing that ROI on expensive dev cost AAA games isn’t great, we are now bearing witness to some significant changes in this industry. Sony also is looking into selling big titles in piecemeal so you buy 1/4 for $70 until finally you get 4/4 by paying $70 for each chunk. Then finally they release the game as a complete version.

I can see more GaaS and starting to publish on Xbox. I mean they were already forced to with MLB The Show, so it’s not like there isn’t Sony published games on Xbox right now. I honestly see a future where consoles become less and less important.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Ridiculous. Sony doesn't own the MLB license. Every other game they created with the exception of Marvel IP is theirs. They aren't forced to put any of their titles on Xbox. Or to help Microsoft and Xbox in any way.

They can port to PC like they already are and as cellphones improve, they can port their games to Mobile or Stream their games to other devices other than the competition's hardware.

Microsoft is the one failing, almost purposely, to get the industry to move in their direction instead of what already works. Sure. Sony could just let 3rd parties port wherever instead of trying to make those games exclusive by paying for it. But at the moment, Sony and Nintendo don't need to take any action other than cutting the fat.

Also, Pachter has shown for years his bias towards Microsoft. To most gamers, this is nothing new coming from this bullshitter analyst.

[CrimsonWing69]

Everyone, I just want you to take a look at the comment above me and notice the delusion here.

@ApocalypseShadow

I want you to tell me who develops MLB The Show… in fact, I’ll do you one better look up the cover for MLB The Show on Xbox and at the lower right I want you to point me out two things on that Xbox cover for the game.

1) Tell me at the far bottom right corner the 2 studios responsible for this game.

2) Tell me who the first-party developer belongs to.

It blows my mind that you cannot underestimate the predictability of stupidity. You give people literal quotes from the Sony President and COO saying consoles are selling less and game sales would benefit from being on multiple platforms. I even point out that a Sony developed game is already on Xbox and we have Xbox putting their games on Sony… but the first word from this guy is “Ridiculous.” You don’t think that Sony won’t do the same at some point?

Jim Ryan even said the Bungie GaaS games would be on Xbox. There’s this tweet asking for Helldivers 2 on Xbox:

https://x.com/nikomueller/s...

We need to bookmark this comment to come back to. There is literally a crazy shift happening and I mean a major change in this industry and people like this are completely oblivious to it.

[rippermcrip]

But that quote is talking about putting their games on PC. Not on other consoles.

So it doesn't agree with what Pachter is saying about "console exclusives".

[Christopher]

***PlayStation exclusives multi-platform would help its operating income improve***

Just to note, they don't say multi-platform, but continuing to port games to PC. This is bad journalism. He's literally saying "if we continue to do what we are currently doing."

[Chevalier]

https://www.ign.com/article...

https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

https://www.gamesindustry.b...

MLB decided this. It was either release on other platforms or lose the license

"MLB wanted the game multiplat because they get a percentage of sales. Sony had the option of either taking the game to other platforms or losing the license to another publisher and not being able to make MLB games.

This Sony was forced to put the game on the system and allow it on gamepass."

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.c...

Basically license came up for renewal and MLB seeing the sales of NBA, Madden, PGA, Fifa games and forced Sony to release multiplatform so they could make more money or lose the license completely basically

[CrimsonWing69]

It’s still on there! That’s the point and what about Jim Ryan on the Bungie games being multiplatform? We’re just ignoring that?

I’m telling you with Xbox putting games on Sony and Sony mentioning better sales for other platforms, it’s a thing that will eventually happen… or is happening. I’m not saying all titles or even major titles, but this is happening. Think about PC, there was a time waaaay back where nobody would believe you could play Sony first-party games on the PC, but look where we are now.

[Crows90]

@crimson

As far as we know with Bungie that was part of the deal for acquisition. You have wishful thinking not evidence.

[Chevalier]

" there was a time waaaay back where nobody would believe you could play Sony first-party games on the PC, but look where we are now."

I agree with some of what you're saying, but, you're stretching a bunch of false equivalents to try to suit your argument. Playstation still has majority of their sales from their consoles. Playstation isn't doing day 1 releases and they aren't putting their games on a subscription day 1 either.

I'm not saying never considering Playstation did just release Helldiver 2 same day on PC and that game is selling insanely well so I think for Live Service type games I think will probably day 1 on PC because you want as many players as possible.

"Bungie games being multiplatform? We’re just ignoring that?"

Ignoring what exactly? Part of their terms of sales to Playstation was that the remain independent and that allows for multiplatform games unlike Xbox lying about Bethesda being independent.

[Crows90]

Computer isn't a competitor to PlayStation. That's why they decided to release on it. It has a huge base and doesn't compete much with console. At least that is their line of thinking...of course I won't buy the next ps6 if they follow this path strongly but that's just me

[CrimsonWing69]

I mean at this point only time will tell.

But we’re already seeing crazy changes like Xbox on PlayStation and Nintendo, PlayStation on PC. Nintendo seems to be the only one not putting exclusives on other platforms.

[romulus23]

So than the xbox model of console exclusives doesn't work either, right? So we should definitely expect to see Starfield, Hellblade 2, and every other xbox game on PlayStation and Switch since that model doesn't work according to Pachter?

[Good-Smurf]

It's Pachter, too many of these sites are click begging people on social media.
It's like going into a restaurant and the employees listed as "Some chefs and cooks" and I have to give them few bucks or log-in data so they can finally reveal their names.

[Hofstaderman]

"Claims"

[Profchaos]

Patcher alert he's at it again he read a Kotaku article and is trying to tell everyone the skies falling on exclusives.

Look historically what happens when a console doesn't have a strong exclusive line-up they fail.

People won't buy a system if the games are not compelling or of they can play them on another system

[shinoff2183]

Historically patcher is almost always wrong to.

[Futureshark]

Michael Patcher.
Is he still going??
He's a VIP member of Phil Spencer's clown club.

[Armyofdarkness]

This guy is a total buffoon

[Travesty]

If I can make money by being wrong all the time then I’m in the wrong profession. When has Micheal ever been remotely right?

[RGB]

The same guy that said Xbox Live Gold had 50 million subs, and the new 34 million including Xbox GamePass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold) that Microsoft announced this year is wrong. 🤣

[Chevalier]

Right?! You would think an analyst would analyze numbers or something 🤔

[Doomeduk]

This fella isn't remembered for his predictions being correct but for being way off

[gold_drake]

nah

if u look how many copies those games actually sell.. look at pkmn games, look at spideyman games.

it might not be a thing for xbox but their games are far and between.

pachter is talkin out of his arse again

[Hereandthere]

Sad cope by a paid ms shill, new mission is demonizing exclusives. I just wish Microsoft would get out of the gaming business, they are clueless, they offer nothing.

[staticall]

Another Michael Pachter wild take? Come on, guys, you're too late, april 1st was like a week ago.

P. S.: Did you know that this "analyst" have a "show" on youtube? It's called "Pachter Factor", this quote is from s9e18 and yes, people do correct him in a comment section.

[Chocoburger]

Reminder that Michael Pachter believed heavily in the Intellivision Amico, and truly thought that it was going to shake up the industry.

You remember the Amico, yeah? Its the system that never came out. How's that prediction of yours going, Patcher? 🤣

The fact that he gets paid to write this drivel is ludicrous and hilarious! People should pay this guy to NOT be an analyst! 🤔

[Inverno]

Clearly it's a sensitive topic that fanboys don't wanna have a conversation about. But to some extent it's true, irregardless of what MS is doing right now. Nintendo is am exception due to them being very hard headed, so I don't think we'll be seeing their games make their way to PC or any platform any time soon, or ever really. But SONY has been porting over their games to PC this whole generation, and yeah I know they take a year to 2 years to get there but doesn't matter cause they're still getting ported.
We're no longer in those early days of console gens, brand recognition is huge. People buy PlayStation's regardless of what games it has, and not knowing what games it will have later on. Most people here already know they're going to buy the next PlayStation or Nintendo even tho they don't know what they'll be capable of, and what games they'll have. Exclusives will always be a nice incentive, but are no longer what sells consoles. Which is why most PlayStation games this Gen are on PC now.

[RNTody]

I'm becoming sick of this bullshit narrative that Microsoft and now this guy is trying to push. Michael Pachter is and has always been a hack whose predictions and opinions are so far out of reality that I don't know why he's in the gaming business at all. The ONLY reasons triple A games fail is because of bloated budgets, excessive staff, expanding beyond what the IP can realistically sell, failing to understand target audience or alienating them, over spending on advertising and marketing beyond what the title will sell, making mediocre or crap products that people won't buy or inefficient use of development resources - or, you know what? Bad luck. Many great products like movies or whatnot did not get the recognition they deserved at the time, only to find success later.

Do any of these utter morons wonder why From Software is such a success story? Or Larian? It's because they understand their core audience ridiculously well and make games DIRECTLY for them. You don't see From Software or Larian trying to win over the Fortnite crowd. Their art and brains comes before their greed. Same with the Sony first party IPs. They rarely, if ever, fail to meet targets. And even those that don't succeed, like Days Gone, Dreams or Drive Club, they're all still good or great games. Nintendo despite criticism continues to refresh and reinvent their IPs to incredible success and they have absolutely no interest in going beyond their target audience.

Classic case of creating the problem and then charging gamers to solve it.

Then you get Microsoft, who aren't gamers and don't have a clue how to make a game let alone sell one. They pathetically think that they can sell their IPs on name alone, without ever having to innovate, reinvent, refresh or evolve. Who think a subscription service can sell consoles and take the place of great games.

It's funny how the only ones crying that the model doesn't work, or saying that games need microtransactions, are the losers in this business, like Xbox and Warner Bros. Then you get companies like Capcom that do make use of microtransactions and such, but their games are such high quality and they do exactly what their audience wants that they continue to find success after success.

Doubt people will ever wake up to see how bad Microsoft's decisions continues to be for this industry.

[StormSnooper]

lol patcher.

[shinoff2183]

Yea sure thing. Yes I'm aware more money could be made if there weren't exclusives, at the same time if no exclusives there'd be no incentive to buy any particular system. Ms would love this though so I could see why a site with maybe a bias would follow that bs logic.

[Retroman]

Industry analyst? Michael pachter ?? his name should be in the title.

end of story

[GhostScholar]

I’m not even a PlayStation fan but that’s just silly. I’ve been an Xbox player for 20 years and the fact is at this point Sony and Nintendo can get by with having exclusives and Xbox can’t that’s just fact. You will never play Zelda on Xbox or sony and you’ll never play god of war or the last of us on Nintendo or Xbox. Microsoft is the only one of the big 3 that is gonna go full multiplat and it’s not that Xbox doesn’t have good first party games. It’s that their business model (game pass) is leveling off finally and they need to get it on other systems.

The narrative by the immature and ignorant sony die hards (not all Sony fans just the ones that aren’t truthful) that Xbox has no good games is untrue and that was proven when they preordered sea of thieves more than any other game after making fun of it for years and when they gave hi-fi rush high scores

[jznrpg]

No longer works for MS

[Kakashi Hatake]

For Microsoft....

[Alos88]

Here's a better title
"Michael Pachter still has a job somehow"

[anast]

Good thing whoever said that isn't a professional in their field. They are an MS marketer.

[Knightofelemia]

It's Patcher I don't believe a word that comes out of the guys mouth. I doubt he even knows how to turn on an NES let alone a PS5.

[CobraKai]

It doesn’t look like it to me

[derek]

Shorter pachter:: "whatever Microsoft does has been and will be successful, no matter what the numbers say. The other 2 platform holders are clueless and should be following Microsoft".

Nobody should ever listen to this guy and his Microsoft propaganda. He has zero credibility.

[Psychonaut85]

Why is Michael Pachter still a thing. Dude has a prediction accuracy rate worse than a weather man.

[DeadlyFire]

Lies

[mike32UK]

It works perfectly well for them. It just doesn't work well for Microsoft

[hiroyukisanada]

Model of console exclusive no longer works *for Microsoft*.
Nintendo has several 30 million sellers
Sony has several 20 million sellers.
Nothing to see here.
Carry on

[raWfodog]

The simple reason that the ‘exclusive’ approach will continue to work for Sony and Nintendo is that those companies are still primarily trying to push their hardware. The only way to do that is to offer exclusive titles (even if only for a timed period) so that customers will be compelled to buy the console necessary to play the game. Xbox seems primarily concerned with getting their software on as many platforms as possible on day 1 so the ‘exclusive’ model will not work in that situation.

[P_Bomb]

Console exclusives are the main reason I bought into Xbox Series. Got caught up on all the console exclusives I missed last gen and a couple more from this one. Had a good time. Lose them, you lose some lustre. I don’t have room for paperweights.

[Rainbowcookie]

Aah yes the same Micheal that said this is the last generation of physical media and that everything will be cloud gaming.

[TheColbertinator]

Pachter? He still alive?

[DefenderOfDoom2]

My question to Pachtor why is the BARBIE movie not on Netfix or Disney + or any other streaming service except for HBO Max .HBO pays big money to sream movies after they are in movie theaters.
I like HBO because they make awesome original content that I can not t get anywhere else. .Just like Sony and Nintendo making awesome games for their consoles.

[Jingsing]

Pachter the part time Microsoft employee. I knew it before I even clicked on the link.

[Barlos]

Nobody takes Pachter seriously, right?

[HyperMoused]

Is this...analyst...in the room with us right now

[NealGamby]

This “industry analyst” doesn’t happen to work for Microsoft, do they? Lol

[mastershredder]

Mmmhmm. The hack “analyst” that’s onboard with pay-per-play. You know he’s a $hill, right? Get wrecked Pachter.

[YourMommySpoils]

This loon again.

[Kekewei]

Why do they just blindly follow what Phil says, these people act like MAGA cult in gaming..

[Miacosa]

Michael Pachter is known to be wrong much of the time. Now if he would have said that these companies spending 100s of million of dollars is untenable in the continued production of exclusives at is believable. However, exclusives will always exist in one form or another has it is what makes any platform or service special. The idea that everything will consolidate into one standard vanilla platform or service goes directly against capitalism and the business of selling video games.

[MeteorPanda]

Im not playing some games on a small screen, not playing some games on a big screen.

I like te touch screen features on a switch, l l ike the controller and graphics of a ps5.

[AndrenNguyen1471992]

Everyone knows Michael Pachter is fanboy of Xbox
So all his damn opinions were trash

[Rols]

Missed April fools day by a week.

[isalas011981]

Funny…. i wonder why then the two market leading consoles are the ones who prioritize on console exclusive games.

[PassNextquestion]

I think it's important to have some exclusives whether it's timed or permanent. Otherwise apart from minor performance differences there would be no reason to buy one over another or to own multiple consoles.

[Petebloodyonion]

Sometimes Pachter got to be Pachter and it's one of these times :)
Honestly didn't he say the same thing regarding Nintendo versus Smartphones yet Nintendo still has an Iron grip on the market to the point that we have now a Switch contender in the form of Steam deck and Rog ally.

[DaniMacYo]

Mate it’s a bit late for an April fools joke don’t ya think?

[Elda]

Wrong! Selling console exclusives works for Sony PS & Nintendo.

[UltimateOwnage]

lol. They also said GaaS / Cloud gaming is the future. Who's lining their pockets?

[8bitAssassin]

It's time to have his sudo credentials banned from the gaming spectrum.

[Angyobangyo]

A reminder that analysts get things wrong.

[DivineHand125]

Guys many of you have a bad habit of looking at a title then you run to the comment section. Whenever someone has a controversial headline, it is always good practice to read their argument before commenting because many of you are not arguing against why Micheal Pachter believes the exclusive business model is outdated.

[neomahi]

Maybe. But, right now Nintendo, whose bread and butter is this industry unlike Sony who just goes back to making video and audio equipment with an end-to-end ecosystem and Sony Pictures or Microsoft that goes back to making business software and I guess the other competitor in the ring nobody seems to notice, ever, Valve, Gabe Newell has a ton of money to retire on and the PC will continue on anyway. If Nintendo, who hinges on this industry as their bread and butter, who Sony and Microsoft obviously very carefully watch, and nobody wants to speak ill of seeing them as neutral territory and, I don't know, I backup plan to seem less threatening?? If Nintendo isn't and hasnt been publishing their content on other platforms, why would Sony and Microsoft be so nervous? I don't know why Sony are publishing on PC. They haven't held their ground confident in their platform like Nintendo has, MLB: The Show was a freak accident that was forced, but also, people, you think Nintendos business practices and also Gabe Newells desire to cut into Xbox's Kool-aid with Steam have nothing to do with Xbox's current state of where they're positioned, Gabe Newell likes money too. He wants you to buy: Like a Dragon, Alan Wake II, Baulders Gate 3, Control, Cyber Pink 2077, etc. for his platform and then he makes extra and contributes all the more to that demise when Steam also has Spider-Man 2, Horizon: Forbidden West, Death Stranding, Halo Infinite, Starfield, and for the time Hi-Fi Rush, he's working his own agenda. Yet, he doesn't have Super Mario Bros Wonder, Metroid Dread, or Legend of Zelda: Tears of a Kingdom and Nintendo are closing in on lifetime sales of the PlayStation 2 with the Nintendo Switch making it two consoles in a row, following the Nintendo Wii that they've had successful hardware...... Yet their games remain 100% exclusive to their console, why? Because they're confident