As we all know by now, Microsoft has well and truly moved into new times with its multiplatform push in recent years; involving Nintendo and Sony systems in its plan to put Xbox games everywhere. While this is proving to be a bold new step for Team Green, it does seem to be a trend that's taking hold of the wider industry too - and a well-known reporter thinks this is starting to become the norm.
In a reaction to news of Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth selling extremely well on Steam, Jason Schreier suggests that "console exclusives will become obsolete soon, especially for third-party". The Bloomberg reporter also mentions that the Valve PC platform "has become a bright spot for many game makers as console sales have flattened".
On the Xbox side of things, console sales have more than flattened - they've started to massively decrease in recent times. Year-on-year, Microsoft is selling a lot less consoles nowadays — up to 50% less than the previous year in certain regions — and other console makers are also suffering at the moment. It makes sense then, that in tough economic conditions, game devs are starting to put their games on as many platforms as possible.
Anyway, we know this viewpoint is starting to become increasingly common, but we thought it was interesting to hear from such a big voice in the behind-the-scenes reporting scene. Schreier likely has more of an idea of what some of these game devs are truly going through right now, and it sounds like a push towards more multiplatform releases is going to become the norm in gaming for the foreseeable future.