Editorial Twisted voxel reached a very interesting piece of information that Microsoft presented in response to the CMA. This is confirmed by the Redmond company By signing contracts with third-party developers, Sony “drops” Xbox from target platforms.
“Exclusivity strategies are not uncommon in the gaming industry, with other market participants having access to their own content. Both Sony and Nintendo exclusives are among the best-selling in Europe and worldwide. Sony’s current exclusive content includes notable first-party titles such as The Last of Us, Ghosts of Tsushima, God of War, and Spiderman. In addition to owning exclusive content, Sony has also entered into agreements with third-party publishers that require Xbox to be “excluded” from the set of platforms on which publishers can distribute their games. Notable examples of such deals include Final Fantasy VII Remake (Square Enix), Bloodborne (From Software), the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix), and the recently announced Silent Hill 2 Remaster (Bloober Team).
As a result, Microsoft would have to get permission from Sony for productions like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Silent Hill 2 Remake to go to Xbox. The situation is interesting, however, because the producer, announcing Final Fantasy VII Remake, mentioned the temporary exclusivity, which apparently was not related to Xbox – as we know, an improved version of Square Enix’s hit later debuted on PC .
It’s definitely worth noting that the above list doesn’t just include items from Japan – the Bloober Team was also expected to sign a deal to “bar” Xbox from platforms. Silent Hill 2 Remake will officially arrive exclusively on PS5 and PC.