24 months later and the offering of exclusive titles still comes as no surprise
Released at one of the worst moments in modern history, the new generation of consoles is turning two years old🇧🇷 With two days of difference between their releases, the new consoles of Microsoft arrived earlier (11/10/2020), at least in theory, given that the availability of Xbox Series X|S And Playstation 5on a worldwide scale, it took some time to normalize. The games kept coming and here we take a look at what the two platforms received in those first 24 months and have promise for the future.
When it comes to exclusive titles, both platforms deliver many cross-gen games, those available for both the current and previous generations. This category of games is even broader than that of games released only for new consoles. On the Microsoft side, for example, almost all games come to PC as well.
Xbox Series S|X complete 1 year: has the console delivered what it promised?
An estimated 8 million units have been sold since launch, but the numbers could be higher if it weren’t for the shortage of components.
The same goes for some non-PlayStation Studios (third-party) Sony games, although some exclusives are slowly making their way to PC. So let’s talk first about games that can only be played on the current (previously new) generation of consoles.
The timid beginning of the new generation
The fifth generation of PlayStation came bringing Demon’s soul remake🇧🇷 The IP, which was not necessarily created by a PlayStation Studios developer (but the production of the remake, yes), marked the debut among PlayStation 5 games. Astro’s Playroom, game/tech demo, was already available with the console. Only in April 2021, six months after the launch of the platform, the PS5 had a truly exclusive game with Return🇧🇷 Soon after, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart became Sony’s second next-gen exclusive to arrive.
As far as Microsoft is concerned, if we talk about exclusive releases for the Xbox series, it took a long time for that to happen. In January 2021, The middle could only be played on Xbox Series X|S (as well as PC). The game, developed by Bloober Team (who are now working on the PS5 and PC-exclusive remake of Silent Hill 2), arrived on PS5 in September of last year. Big names on Microsoft’s side, like Force Horizon 5 And Infinite haloarrived a year after the launch of the new consoles and were still cross-gen.
Let’s check the major titles that arrived after November 10, 2020 for both consoles, with an emphasis on ecosystem exclusives (PS5/PS4 and Xbox Series/Xbox One). Remembering that we are talking about large productions, games that are “system sellers”. The vast majority, so far, are still cross-gen in these first two years of the ninth generation of consoles.
PlayStation 4/PlayStation 5 games
- Demon’s Souls Remake (PS5)
- Sackboy: A Great Adventure (PS4/PS5/PC)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4/PS5/PC)
- Destruction AllStars (PS5)
- Forbidden Horizon West (PS4/PS5)
- GranTurismo 7 (PS4/PS5)
- The Last of Us Part I (PS5/PC Confirmed)
- God of War Ragnarok (PS4/PS5)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (PS5/PC)
- Uncharted Collection: Legacy of Thieves (PS5/PC)
- Return (PS5)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
Games for Xbox One/series
- Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox One/Xbox Series/PC)
- Halo Infinite (Xbox One/Xbox Series/PC)
- Scorn (Xbox/PC series)
- After Sunset (Xbox One/Xbox Series/PC)
- Grounded (Xbox One/Xbox Series/PC)
- Microsoft Flight Simulator (Xbox/PC series)
If we extend this list to limited-time exclusive third-party titles, it gets even longer with names like Ghost thread: Tokyo, Stray, Kena: Bridge of SpiritsDeathloop (which is already out for Xbox) and Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Intergrade on Sony’s side.
With Microsoft, among the most expressive titles, only The Medium was a temporary exclusive. There is the case of Psychonauts 2which is an Xbox Game Studios (Double Fine Productions) title, but was also released for PlayStation.
Looking ahead, both platforms have promising titles to release, be they productions by Playstation studios or Xbox Game Studios, or temporary exclusive productions by third parties. Most of them still don’t have a release date at the time of publishing this article. In this regard, Xbox has multiple names.
PlayStation – Future releases
- Forspoken (two-year timed exclusive on PS5, also coming to PC) – January 24th
- Final Fantasy XVI (PS5 timed exclusive for 6 months) – Mid 2023
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – 2023
- Marvel’s Wolverine – 2023
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Timed Exclusive) — 2023
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake (also coming to PC)
Xbox – Future releases
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (Xbox Series/PC) – November 30th
- Perfect dark
- The Outer Worlds 2 (Xbox series/PC)
- State Of Decay 3 (Xbox/PC series)
- Redfall (Xbox series/PC)
- Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl (Xbox/PC series)
- Ark 2 (Timed Exclusive – Xbox/PC Series)
- The Elder Scrolls 6
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Xbox/PC series)
- Forza Motorsport (Xbox Series/PC)
- Fable
- Starfield (Xbox/PC series)
- Stated (Xbox/PC series)
- Contraband (Xbox/PC series)
- Everwild (Xbox/PC series)
Crisis and takeovers in the studio
In these two years of existence, the current generation of consoles has faced crises that have hindered the arrival of new hardware: a pandemic that has generated shortage of components due to factory closures, crisis in Taiwancryptocurrency mining (which indirectly affects the entire chain, all the more so due to the pandemic) and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
It took a long time for consoles to become available in worldwide markets due to this situation. As if the stock problem in stores wasn’t enough, the scarcely available has been attacked by money changers, which they resell more expensive. Of the three new consoles, only the Xbox Series S was available at virtually all times.
When it comes to sales, the PlayStation 5 has already exceeded 25 million units sold🇧🇷 As for the Xbox Series, the two consoles add up to over 17 million sales, according to a survey by VG Chartz at the end of October. Microsoft doesn’t often disclose this data.
No hardships have stopped Sony and Microsoft from expanding their services with several studio acquisitions. Among the purchases, the acquisition of Sony’s Bungie and the controversial purchase of Activision Blizzard for Microsoftwhich is the largest acquisition in the gaming industry and has not yet been finalized, are among those that have impacted the industry the most recently.
Both (Play station And Xboxes) have already said that they have not yet finished the game studio purchase round. This has shaken up the industry so much that several studios have made it clear that they will remain standalone and not be for sale.
Now let’s look at what 2023 will bring to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, the year that should be the furthest away from the previous generation (PS4/Xbox One), with ever more exclusive releases for new hardware, be it first-generation titles. party parties or outsourced studios, or cross-platform games, which are the majority on the market. Phil Spencer, CEO of Xbox, guaranteed that 2023 will be a better year with first party exclusives for the current generation. Sony has made no such statements.
Tell us which platform you are on at the moment, if you are satisfied or if you are considering switching consoles depending on the stage of the carriage. If you play on PC like me, share with us how you saw this new generation born.
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