Diversifying Gaming Platforms
When central locations begin to diversify their portfolios to extend to a wider audience, the ability to earn more revenue grows exponentially. The idea of exclusive products on specific platforms only pays off when there has been an upfront dollar amount provided to the developer to purchase – generally – what that developer thinks they could earn on other platforms. It drives the desire for the game, and hopefully for the console manufacturer, drives the desire to purchase their products. But exclusivity has been limited over the past number of years to in-house studios, creating games ultimately for their own platform. This is evident in titles like God of War on the PlayStation 4, and Gears of War on the Xbox One. So why is exclusivity slowly dying out? Revenue.
Think about a regional casino such as Mohegan Sun. While their central casino can reach a fairly large audience, taking their games to the online marketplace through web and mobile applications opens up their clientele. These companies often add incentives to go with their online offerings via codes such as suncasino.codes. But them diversifying to new platforms is much the same as video game companies diversifying their titles.
Think about Ubisoft, who has created big hit franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, and so much more. They do their best to bring their best titles to all platforms, only limiting releases in situations where it only make sense. For example, although you won’t find their latest two Assassin’s Creed titles on the Nintendo Switch – that is Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – they are available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Why? It’s pretty simple really, as it comes down to potential revenue.
There is no amount of money either Microsoft or Sony is willing to pay to have the next Assassin’s Creed title exclusivity on their platform. The franchise is just too big to limit where it can be played, for two reasons. One, the company is likely to make a big chunk of change on all three platforms, an amount that even Sony and Microsoft couldn’t recoup if they attempted to lock up exclusivity. Second, Ubisoft has a large fan base around the franchise who want to play the next iteration of the game. Limiting where they can play it could cause major problems down the road, problems that cannot be easily fixed. There is a sense of customer loyalty that also plays into providing titles on multiple platforms.
It is all about being smart with your products and maximizing your ability to pull as much profit out of each release as possible. As with the casino company, it’s about putting as many dollars into your pocket as possible, not just because you have shareholders to make happy, but because you have other assets that need funding, as well as future plans that cannot be completed without the necessary dollars in the bank. Mohegan Sun casino is similar in this, as they not only operate a casino, but a resort and arena as well. They have diversified what they do, and for the better.
And that is why you see exclusivity slowly dying out; timed exclusive titles still happen – as is evident with Hellblade which was originally launched on the PlayStation 4 but later brought to the Xbox One and just recently the Nintendo Switch. But completely exclusive titles from 3rd party developers is slowly going away, and that is because companies want to diversify where their revenue comes from. And good on them.