PS5 and Xbox Series X Should Just Abandon Exclusives

• Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat & Injustice, ran a Twitter poll to gauge gamers’ priorities surrounding next-gen consoles.
• Exclusive games came in at the bottom of the list, while affordability ranked highest.
• The PS5 and Xbox Series X need to drop exclusivity for the sake of the consumers.

A new Twitter poll seems to suggest that exclusives aren’t as important as they might seem. The poll, which was conducted by Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat & Injustice and creative director at NetherRealm Studios, was held to determine the most important factor in deciding which next-gen console to buy. The results make for interesting reading, for both Xbox Series X and PS5 fans.

Top of the list was an affordable price, an important factor in most electronics purchases. But the surprising factor is that exclusive games actually came in at the bottom of the list of priorities, coming in under both better graphics and backward compatibility.

Clearly, gamers are getting fed up with exclusivity.

Here’s Why The PS5 and Xbox Series X are Better Off Without Exclusives

Exclusive releases have been around since the early days of gaming. After the video game crash was caused by game publishers being too fast and loose, it made sense for companies to regain some of that control.

Fast forward to the modern era and exclusives are a sales tactic. Companies try to secure console exclusives so that more people will buy their console. Obviously, this sort of thing is very attractive to a company trying to get more users for its hardware.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X should really be able to survive without them. Not only would a lack of exclusives mean more sales for everyone, but it would allow console hardware to shine on its own merits rather than on its software.

Backward Compatibility Is a Better Incentive for Early Adopters

If the PS5 and Xbox Series X want to win people over, they need to be able to support last-gen software at the very least. Not only would that make both brands look good, but it would make people more likely to buy in on release.

If people already have a library of games to play, it will give them more confidence in purchasing a new console. More than that, if these new consoles offer the same advantages as the ‘pro’ versions of last-gen consoles, then anyone still using a base version will be getting an upgrade.

Hopefully, both Sony and Microsoft take these numbers into consideration. If they do, maybe we’ll see more cross-platform sharing and more backward compatibility – if we ever get to see the next-gen consoles at all that is.