Developer Suggests PlayStation Might Abandon Exclusives Similar to Xbox

Thomas Mahler, the creative mind behind the beloved Ori series, recently shared his thoughts on the future of PlayStation exclusivity. As the founder of Moon Studios, Mahler has experience crafting games like Ori specifically for Xbox and PC, with the games never making it to PlayStation platforms. Over time, he’s become quite vocal about his views on exclusive titles.

In a detailed post on social media platform X, Mahler praised Xbox head Phil Spencer for his approach to releasing games on multiple platforms. He mentioned that his studio, Moon, teamed up with Take-Two for their project, No Rest for the Wicked, because they aimed to connect with a broader player base rather than just confining the game to a couple of systems.

He cleverly compared the scenario to a world where you could only watch certain DVDs on Sony players and needed Samsung players for others. “Consoles have been stuck attracting the same 100-150 million players for over two decades now,” Mahler pointed out. “If we want the industry to grow, we need to make it easier for everyone to access content.”

Mahler also expressed that he’ll be taken aback if Sony doesn’t eventually adopt a similar strategy to Microsoft’s, especially since PlayStation and Xbox consoles share so many similarities. Meanwhile, Nintendo is anticipated to continue paving its unique path.

In a tweet, Mahler acknowledged that some individuals want him to engage in the console wars discussion. However, he firmly believes in Xbox’s direction. His decision to not develop No Rest for the Wicked under Microsoft’s banner back then stemmed from the inability to also launch it on PlayStation and Switch—a limitation neither he nor Moon Studios wanted.

So, what are your thoughts on Mahler’s take? Do you think PlayStation will eventually shift away from exclusives? Let us know!