@BigBadAndy since you started it! Just kidding 
Continuing the timed/platform exclusive fighting game discussion from Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite:
The more people who can enjoy a game together the better. Cross play and multiplatform is a good thing.
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The whole discussion is based on the assumption that MS and Sony continue this practice.
But, I actually think that for players new to the genre, a game that features Marvel characters can be a draw. Wouldnât mind seeing it on the Scorpio first in that sense.
As for the UMvC3 move to have it 3 months earlier, I totally agree with your arguments that itâs annoying to gamers. However, to me it actually sends a message to players that Sony values fighting games and wants you to join their platform. I can respect that, even if I hate games being exclusive to a platform (temporarily).
Okay, well hereâs some stuff to get the thread started. Exclusives are generally not great for consumers who have to make tough choices about platform purchases. They do have value in selling hardware for game companies. I think this matters a lot at console launch when people are picking one or the other, and then later in the cycle as a way to convince people like me that they have a reason to get the other console.
In general I think having an exclusive fighter that brings some hype (like KI) at a console launch is worthwhile. But this far into the consoleâs life cycle I expect the impact to be about zero unless the game is huge. MvC Infinite would be a BIG DEAL as an exclusive game and Iâm really a bit surprised Sony didnât lock it up - although SFVâs poor financial performance probably made a case against it. Even for this game though, I think fighing games are probably too niche to matter this late into the console cycle. Itâs just not enough volume to really get people. I think MS needs to stay demonstrably committed to getting the big games like MvC and Tekken on Xbox so they donât lose current platform supporters, but they donât really need to sweat the Guilty Gears and Personas of the world - although donât think I wouldnât love to see these games come to Xbox. But they just donât matter enough overall for me to think itâs a significant return on commitment. Looking at SFV sales, I doubt that game has helped PS4 much. I think the ANNOUNCEMENT of SFV exclusivity had a big PR impact. But the game itself probably not.
Thereâs a big unanswered question, to me at least, regarding UMvC three month timed exclusivity. Why is this even a thing? Does ANYONE care about a three month exclusivity window for a five year old game remastered? I have a feeling the SFV exclusivity agreement for Sony might have been more broad than just the game but less broad than some people have suspected (i.e. covering all future SF IPs). This seems like maybe a bone thrown to Sony, either as a thank you for the SFV deal or else to meet the letter of the terms in the contract but still release on all platforms. So, does this matter?
Iâve already said I doubt it. The game is already available on 360 (although not for new purchase) and I canât imagine even a single person now in 2016/17 deciding that they are going to buy into PS4 over Xbox One because of three months of exclusivity on this game. It may also be that they simply have the PS4 version ready to go because of the Capcom Cup and they still need time to certify the Xbone version. But I am a big FG fan, although not super into Marvel that will buy this when it comes out for Xbox One and I am not really very bothered by this short exclusivity window. My purchase is more a statement of support for developers releasing fighters on the platform than anything else.
Just as an aside, has anyone played the PS4 version? Does it function well and is there any noticeable improvement to either the graphics (which I understand are 1080 now) or to the netcode? This game had barely serviceable netcode and matchmaking was broken for ages.
Now, moving on to Infinite - there has been no announcement about release dates. We know itâs coming to all platforms, but there may well be some timed Sony exclusivity similar to the UMvC3 release. I doubt it though. Any advantage for your hardware platform comes from either the impression that it is a forever exclusive or a long period of exclusivity. Unlike single player games, a year of exclusivity would be huge for a new fighting game. So I donât expect to see this at all. I think the damage to Capcom would far exceed any benefit to either MS or Sony from timed exclusivity so I donât think this will be a thing.
What will be interesting will be to see if there is cross play - It is definitely in Capcomâs interest and in the consumersâ interest to do this. But I donât know that Capcom is technically proficient enough to pull this off. This is an area, incidentally where I think MS could really provide support. As the lagging behind but building momentum platform I think MS benefits greatly from a cross play release of MVCI. So much better, in my mind, than any kind of timed exclusivity would be a statement from MS right now that they are very interested in seeing THIS GAME be cross platform compatible and that they are willing to work with Capcom to see that happen. I think that would be by FAR the best PR move they could make. Certainly better than any kind of exclusivity arrangement. If they succeed they can take credit and garner favor with consumers. If they fail, they just sit back and let Sony take the blame. But in order for that to work they need to make it clear ASAP that they support cross play. I was accused by an idiot to remain nameless of being a paid MS drone (I wish) - but this is absolutely free unsolicited advice. MS - get your bigshots tweeting RIGHT NOW reiterating that MS supports cross platform game development and inviting Capcom to work with you. If you want to pay me for this good advice feel free, lol.
@BoJima404 brought up Scorpio exclusivity specifically. I will just reiterate that I think any exclusivity for Scorpio over Xbox One will be hugely damaging for MSâs stated concept of platform iteration, so I think they would be foolish to do that at launch. I think they need at least a year or two of Scorprio on the market before they make a game (like Gears 6) that âreally requires all the hardware power of the Scorpio for a full experienceâ and even then I think they will be in very dangerous territory.
TL DR. Bad, except at the beginning of a launch cycle - and even then not that good.
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Itâs only good for the company that gets exclusivity rights. Itâs not a good thing for consumers.
The only benefit it has for us as gamers is that a) hopefully itâs well optimized, and b) it promotes competition, which creates higher quality products. At its core though, exclusivity means you canât play that really cool game you want because you have the wrong box under your TV, even though the box its for does the exact same thing yours does.
And unless the IP in question is actually owned by the company that gets exclusive rights to it, it should be avoided at all costs.
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Lots of good points. Iâll definitely get back to this in a longer post later. But for now,âŠ
I fully agree with this. But, if fighting games are considered ânot worth investing in as a genreâ then itâll be a difficult discussion.
I feel that what Sony is doing with itâs eSports presence (or itâs involvement) through Capcom/SFV is equally important. Therefore, games like Tekken 7 and MvCI should not only provide opportunities for MS to take cross play to the next level but also ensure their future platform (Scorpio) becomes a preferred platform.
So much is still in doubt about Scorpio. And again, I think they are in a really delicate position on this. If they advance Scorpio over Xbox One they are going to hurt their loyalty from existing owners. I still have some doubts about Scorpio as a cost effective device and what it will deliver. If it clocks in at $500-$700 then thereâs no way TOâs are going to be upgrading to this box for a fighting game. 4K graphics donât really help events that count on people showing up and then the hype from streams that arenât likely to exceed 720p in most cases.
IMO, I donât like exclusives. That said, I am fine with timed exclusives, provided I donât have to wait too long. For example, I was miffed when I heard that Xbox One would NEVER get SFIV or SFV from Crapcom OR MK from NRS. However, I did get Injustice via BC, so at least thereâs that.
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I hope the next marvel is multi platform, our genre as you all well know is niche. We needed sf5 to succeed but it failed on the marketplace. Marvel is the next shot we get. I stress the importance of this because itâs encouraging to developers to continue giving us all the opportunity to beat each other to death online. The more platforms itâs available to, the better. Iâd even be pretty stoked if it came out on the Nintendo switch to further expand the audience. We need fighting games to reach more players, not further divide them because of console exclusives or just petty âmy system is better than yoursâ BS
Fighting games are important to us why? We all have our reasons. For me, itâs the instant gratification of getting action outside an FPS shooter since that genre for me has fallen off a bit (and the game worth playing, unreal tournament, is sparsely populated cuz itâs alpha). Where else can I get action? Pvp mmorpgs, with a lousy gear climb and treadmill JUST to get on even ground. Fighting games are all about our own individual abilities to adapt and overcome any opponent. If I fail or succeed, itâs not because of RNG or mathematical statistics it was entirely my own skills or lack thereof.
That said, players and guys/gals like us arenât exactly large in number. Ppl who play other kinds of games think we all have a couple bolts loose for the insane â â â â we pull off in fighting games. Some watch with excitement, others in total wonder, or some in confusion because they donât know wtf is going on. But there are those among them who want to pick up a fighting game and join our ranks. They can be a top class mage from Wow, or a player with crazy 4 to 1 K/D on an FPS game, even some random guy wanting to try something new.
So, I think fighting games need to be accessible for everyone. The barrier of entry skill wise is scary enough. Now being forced to buy a certain console just makes our bloodied iron gate come with a draw bridge that isnât necessary. Bad enough it comes with an arcade stick tax or buying multiple controllers cuz they donât survive the beating. If I strayed off topic I do apologize, but thatâs how I feel on the matter overall
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Theyâve already confirmed it will be on PS4, XB1 and Steam, actually.
Iâm wondering if we may see MVCi with cross-platform play between all three; wasnât there an announcement in May or over the summer that both console companies were working towards having cross-play between the consoles?
MVCi would be a great opportunity for that, since itâs a third party game with a following on both systems due to the seriesâ history on both. Both XB1 and PS4 (I think) have started doing cross-play with PC, and I would anticipate we will start seeing triple-cross-play soon.
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Not entirely. It was more like an announcement that MS would be all for cross-platform but needed Sony to play ball. Who to this day, still received no answer from.
Hey @Fnrslvr, I thought I would shift this over to a better thread for it.
A very thoughtful remark. I just donât feel that creators âoweâ their consumers anything - but of course the consumers donât âoweâ the creators anything either. I mean, KI started out on Nintendo, but no one thinks MS should release this game on WiiU or Switch. So thereâs a line somewhere. Tekken was a PS exclusive for a while. Is Namco betraying PS consumers by releasing on other systems? It just seems like a complicated âcode of conductâ and Iâm more of a laissez faire kind of guy. People are free to disagree. And frankly, I tend to get every system eventually so exclusivity effects me less than people who are restricted in their purchases.
More to the point though:
^^^^^^^^^
This. What this means is that the price of exclusivity will go up as insurance against this kind of backlash, or else developers will stop doing these deals. Whatâs not clear is how MS or Sony feel about these deals. Did they really get anything out of them? I think they got more than the developers did, but not much. MS and Phil Spencer, whatever else they seem to get wrong, are at least realizing that they canât fall into the âconsole warâ mentality because PS owners are potential future Xbox Owners and it doesnât help you to â â â â those people off for no reason.
I agree with you that SFV exclusivity has been more impactful. It fractured the community and didnât create but aggravated the competitiveness between gameâs supporters in the FGC and thatâs not great. Sony +SF vs MS+KI - FIGHT! is not a good thing for anybody. Keep in mind too, that in the year that RotTR was exclusive to Xbox Naughty Dog completed and released Uncharted 4. So regardless of any residual anger the game was hurt by the delay. Itâs a shame too because I actually belive RotTR is a great game and Iâd like to see them keep getting made.
alright MVCI on multi-plat, very good! as you all can see im way behind, i didnt even know there was a recent event detailing all these new games lol
I donât think itâs so much about anyone âowingâ anyone anything on the developerâs end, as not making it $300-500 harder for X% of your fanbase to play your new game, which is likely to result in people not buying your game who would be easy sales otherwise. But I guess I phrased it in terms of devs screwing over their fans or something, so thatâs probably my bad.
I think this is a little different, in that youâre not surprised to hear that new KI is an Xbox exclusive. Maybe youâre surprised to hear itâs a thing at all, though, which makes your decision to buy a Wii U a little worse in retrospect? I donât know. It kinda brings back memories of what it was like as a young Nintendo fanboy to watch Microsoft acquire Rare, which is where the real âdamageâ to Rareâs fanbase really happened. That really feels like a mass-scale example of this phenomenon, in a way.
[quote=âBigBadAndy, post:12, topic:16615â]
Tekken was a PS exclusive for a while. Is Namco betraying PS consumers by releasing on other systems? [/quote]
Oh, I think this only works the other way around if youâre a fanboy. Tekken on Xbox is a good thing like Quantum Break on PC (or even PS4) is a good thing, despite the angry rants of that guy that Phil Spencer shut down on twitter. What I think is bad is when games become less widely available than predecessors in their respective series.
Cross-platform helps bring console and PC gamers together, so that this petty banter between the two types of gamers can stop.
On-topic though
I think that exclusiveness just wonât always be a good thing. While I may be among those who have a Wii U, PS4, AND!!! and Xbox One, I find that keeping access from gamers who cannot afford a particular console or donât do PC gaming is unfair. On top of that, it could put more money in the developers wallet. though makers of the console would be th eonly ones who would consider this a good thing to get people to buy their consoles.
My guess is from business standpoint, exclusivity might be seen as a good thing because not only does it get people to buy your system but it also aids in competition. And without competition, there is no progress.
At least thatâs how I see it in their minds.
Changed the title to include cross play discussions
Necromancer 
Took two years to get to this pointâŠ
On the topic of exclusivity:
Think Epic Store will get exclusive fighting games in the future? Like a (broken) MK12?