10 Lessons The Gaming Industry Must Learn From 2014
6. Multiplatform IP Should Not Become Exclusive
You may remember the outrage which followed the frankly impressively vague announcement of Rise of the Tomb Raider's Xbox One "exclusivity". We see some PR gobbledygook in this industry, but that was some truly top-shelf, ass-backwards nonsense. Thankfully, we now know that the deal is simply a timed agreement a la Destiny, but the reaction to the mere notion of Lara Croft's new-gen debut becoming one-sided speaks volumes about the buying of IP. We're not talking about freaks of circumstance like Bayonetta 2, where console exclusivity was the preferable option to canning the IP altogether. No, the nightmare on the chopping block here is waking up tomorrow to find Fallout 4 a PlayStation exclusive and Borderlands 3 tied to Xbox. It's absurd, and for reasons too obvious to dwell on: It's unethical to deny fans of a series the next installment because manufacturer A flashed you some cash. Fortunately, the aforementioned Green Plague hasn't progressed this far. Really, we shouldn't worry about the future of Fallout, Borderlands, Assassin's Creed, and so on. Gamers have made it abundantly clear that they won't stand exclusivity among historically multiplatform franchises. But we may as well affirm that, right?
A freelance games writer, you say? Typically battling his current RPG addiction and ceaseless perfectionism? A fan of horror but too big a sissy to play for more than a couple of hours? Spends far too much time on JRPGs and gets way too angry with card games?
Well that doesn't sound anything like me.
