While third-party exclusives appear to be dying out, Sony says they'll still welcome the opportunity to put such titles on the PlayStation 3.
In speaking to CVG , SCEE boss Andrew House said the recently revealed PS3 exclusive, DUST 514 , is "a great example of having an approach from a developer." House says the company is "always open" to third-party exclusives, and although he admits you won't see as much exclusive focus as we've seen in the past (due primarily to the increased cost of game development), opportunities still exist. Said House:
"I think there are clearly opportunities where developers or publishers want to focus their resources on a single platform – usually the one they think delivers the best experience for their vision around the game. That was the case with Dust and the guys from CCP."
Plus, he adds that these projects are great for attracting attention and getting headlines, as we saw at E3. In even better news, House hints that Sony might have something else up their sleeve before the year is out… Could it be another third-party exclusive we haven't yet heard about?
It's true that exclusivity is tough to do these days, but if there's one console that still welcomes designers who wish to focus on one platform, it's the PS3.
Unfortunately "third party exclusive downloadable content" seems to be the new thing over the past couple of years.
I'm looking forward to Dust 514, though! If nothing else, I'm content with that lone 3rd party exclusive!
You and me both, I'm looking forward to this game.
Add me to that Dust514 rooster. If that game is as good as it looks on paper it's my second d1p for 2012 (the first being ME3, of course).
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/13/2011 3:48:49 PM
i'm all for sony getting third party exclusives. they have lost so many of them. peacewalker on 360 is blashemy.
The main reason I care so much about exclusives is because Sony happens to be in a position where exclusivity is to the direct benefit of game design. With so many devs going the route of programming for intersecting parity between platforms, the only common way to see hardware flex its muscles is through exclusives.
I will say that I hope during the next gen Sony's system will have a clear insurmountable advantage in hardware that no matter exclusivity or not, I can count on it having the superior game no matter the title.
yes, i wish for the same exact thing next gen. no more crappy multiplats. sony's next system should have enough brute horsepower that no matter the developer ps4 version is superior.
Last edited by Excelsior1 on 6/13/2011 2:47:41 PM
If the next Xbox sells big though, you can kiss any remaining third party exclusives goodbye, no matter how powerful the PS4 is compared to the competition.
If Sony focus on social gaming, party chat, including a headset with PS4 consoles, all the benefits of Xbox Live being free on PSN forever AND awesome exclusives, then it might stand a chance of dominating once more for an entire generation.
Sadly, this is a longshot. MS dug way too deep into their buried treasure to secure multiplats, excellent review scores for average games (cough, Halo 3, cough) and promote seriously flawed tech. (First gen 360's and Kinect lag, anyone?)
Haven't all 2nd party-exclusives died out? I can't think of a company besides Insomniac that still do them…anyone?
Sucker Punch – Infamous Series
Eat Sleep Play – Twisted Metal
Lightbox interactive – Starhawk
Sanzaru games – Sly 4
Quantic Dream – New ip
ThatGameCompany – Journey
All second party sony studios sir.
Aren't those studios considered first parties?
en . wikipedia
.
org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment
We can now scratch Insomniac off that list.
@ Kiryu, Thanks for the link! I was always curious as to which studios were in fact owned by Sony and which were not.
To be perfectly honest I thought they were all first-party :S Just goes to show how I much I really know.. 😛
Last edited by Ludicrous_Liam on 6/13/2011 4:38:08 PM
@MyWorstNightmar – not true – a second-party exclusive is a game developed by an independent studio but published by the first party. Insomniac have two second-party exclusives due out before the end of the year (Resistance 3 and R&C:All4One). They can still make a multiplat as well, that doesn't make Resi or R&C any less exclusive.
I wouldn't go as far as saying 3rd party exclusivity is dying and is no where near from going extinct.
I recall a console generation where there was no clear "winner", just like this era. SNES vs Genesis. These consoles were about split as evenly as the 360 and PS3 are.
One thing I've noticed in my years of gaming, console dominance and parity works in cycles. If history proves correct, the next generation will likely have 1 very dominant system and 3rd party exclusives will make a "come-back".
the console cycles are very interesting. before the playstation no console had dominated 2 gens in a row. sony did that with the ps1, and ps2. that's a pretty impressive accomplishment. the ps3 hasn't been nearly as successful as those two systems, but it will be very interesting to see how next gen plays out.
ms seems to have na locked down, but it's always possible they could screw up. if sony figures out a way to perform better in na they could easily be the winner next gen. anyways, that's what i hope for. some kind of screw up by ms, and sony taking advantage of it.
Excelsior, it remains to be seen how *this* generation plays out. Nintendo is bailing early, so I'm personally counting them out as it's pretty near certain that the PS3 will outsell the Wii over it's life. But this generation continues to play out over at least the next two years, so I think we should 'stay tuned' and see what happens before trying to figure out who dominated.
I'll remind everyone of the tortoise and the hare. The hare took off to a spectacular start, but the slow, steady tortoise won the race. The Wii took off incredibly, but after just about 4 and a half years it's effectively bowing out of this 'generation'. A good thing too since it's not part of the HD gaming wave. Now it remains to be seen which of the PS3 and 360 ultimately dominates. Personally, I think that the number of 1st party exclusives that supplement the ranks of the multi-platform game bolster the PS3.
Sony Santa Monica would be a first party i believe. Dust 514 looks absolutely ridiculous. I can't wait for it to come out. Hope it turns out well…
Speaking of exclusives, I hear Agent may no longer be exclusive. Jack Tretton said that lies with R* in an interview with GTTV.
i read that too, which pretty much means its won't be exclusive any more.
I don't think jack lied. Because rockstar announced it themselves as ps3 exclusive. I'm sure they did, didn't they?
I remember now! It was a playstation blog post about sony signing with rockstar for the exclusive agent. Its also going to be more than one game. 🙂
I thought the whole Rockstar – Agent – PS3 exclusive was a result of LA Noire going mulitplatform (which I could be way off, may have stemmed from GTA4 being multiplatform too), something about Rockstar owing Sony an exclusive AAA game.
I hope Rockstar North shows Agent by the end of the year exclusively for the PS3.
Me too!
Final Fantasy Versus XIII, if that stays exclusive then everything is perfect and good in the world. Not that I don't think xboxers should be able to play it, but after SE admitted they sliced XIII to ribbons so the xbox could handle it I just can't trust them to leave the production as it is if it goes multiplat.
i have a strong feeling ffv13 will go multiplat for some reason. i think they are porting it as we speak and it will release same day as ps3. square covets the na martket so badly that i just don't see them ignoring the 360. they want a presence on that platform. once mgs went to 360 i gave up hope on 3rd party exclusives. looks like sony lost agent as an exclusive, too.
i did hear the silent hill remakes are ps3 exclusive.
I have a bad feeling you are right.
I concur. SE staying so silent about FFversus13 doesn't do much to reasure us that its staying exclusive. Folks, we're going by history of Square Enix's track record this gen. They did a total 180 when it came to the Last Remnant and Final Fantasy 13 so really what reason do we have to believe it will be exclusive?
The only thing that would help reasurre its exclusivity is if SE and Nomura and Wada claimed it themselves.
From a business standing point, going multiplat is a good idea to cover costs. Expanding your market by several million means bigger bucks at the end of the day.
Look at LA Noire. Started PS3 exclusive, but jumped to multiplat since the cost to make the game was so huge. Sure, heaps of stuff had to be cut, like the DLC we see now.
It's such a shame that PS3 owners have to suffer multiplat games that are lesser than their planned exclusive projects. FF XIII had heaps of missions and additional towns and stuff taken out. LA Noire had extra missions cut out to fit the 3 360 discs. Agent and FF Vs XIII will likely suffer on a technical standing point too should the developers decide to go multiplat.
This is why I'm hoping the most powerful and biggest console for next gen will become the biggest selling, and dominate the sale charts. Whether it's the next Xbox, Wii U or PS4, bigger sales on one will mean more high quality exclusives from third parties, and that's why the PS2 rocked so much in 2005!!
things will never be the way they were for 2 simple reasons.
1 companies have become greedier!
the once millions of fans is suddenly not enough….. cough crapcom, sega, $E………
2 development costs have gone through the roof!
3rd party exclusives are rarely worth it, i mean look at haze!
fun game, but it was a freaking mess!
much better off letting 3rd party studios do what they do best, making games for everyone.
and let first party studios do what they do best, bringing the best out of a specific piece of hardware.
notice how non developed ninty games always look so crap, but when ninty does them they look quite good?
Does that mean they can bring The Getaway into production since it has been 'on hold' for 2 years just as Eight Days?