Xbox boss throws serious shade at PlayStation approach to exclusives

For decades, first-party exclusives have been a major part of a console’s identity and for the most part are system sellers for the likes of PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo (and once upon a time, SEGA).

Mascots such as Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog and the Master Chief are synonymous with a console brand and when the next big games arrive in those beloved franchises, it’s always a big deal for fans. However, especially in this current generation we’ve seen a big shift in first-party titles becoming multiplatform with The Last of Us, Hi-Fi Rush, and Horizon Forbidden West leading the way.

Check out the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 trailer below!

At the recent Xbox Games Showcase event, Microsoft revealed its next plethora of first-party titles including the next Gears of War, and Fable as well as a new gameplay trailer for Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, all of which will be released on PC and Xbox Series X/S. Yet, there were other titles, now owned by Microsoft that will be coming to PlayStation.

Following the acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision, Microsoft will still be bringing DOOM: The Dark Ages and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 to PlayStation. To be fair, Sony has been bringing some of its major first-party titles to PC recently, but not so much for Xbox (unless you include MLB The Show 24).

With major Microsoft-owned titles being released on PlayStation, Xbox chief Phil Spencer has apparently thrown shade at Sony on the topic of exclusives. When speaking to IGN, Spencer made a “slimy” comment believed to be aimed at PlayStation.

“It’s a choice. We didn’t say to anybody ‘You have to subscribe to play’. If you want to buy Black Ops 6, that’s great. It’s great for us, it’s great for the developer,” he said.

“If you want to subscribe, it’s also great. I want to give you the choice on how you play your games, and who you play with, and not try to do slimy platform things to force you to do what I want you to do.”

Of course, Phil Spencer could have been talking about Nintendo, who are seemingly far less keen to bring some of its major properties to rival consoles. Can you imagine Super Mario on PlayStation and Xbox, talk about a Twilight Zone moment.

At the end of the day, the more people that get to play the games that they love, the better. However, when it comes to first-party properties that have only ever existed on one console brand, I hope in some part, that’s going to be an identity never lost.