Recently, Capcom made a well-publicized decision to go exclusively on PS4 for their upcoming Street Fighter V title. In addition, they went even further and stated that not only is this game PS4-only, but any future iterations of Street Fighter V will also not be released on Xbox One.
Contrary to what some might believe, this is not a sign that the PS4 is superior to the Xbox, or that Capcom is somehow saying that the Xbox One is an undesirable platform on which to release their game. This is a business deal, pure and simple. If Microsoft had gotten to Capcom first, and negotiated a similar deal, we would be witnessing a Street Fighter release exlusively on Xbox One, and not PS4. It just happens that things went the other way this time.
Exclusivity deals are nothing new in the videogame industry. Console makers negotiate exclusivity with game makers because it is hugely lucrative. The Halo series, for example, is probably the best example of how important a console exclusive can be in determining the success of that console. Microsoft’s last-gen console enjoyed a lead in sales over the PS3 for much of their lives, mostly because of the Halo series, which was wildly popular with fans. In fact, Halo was so popular that it was enough to make people buy the Xbox 360 just for that game alone.
The Wii was a runaway success, mostly because of its many exclusive games, and because of its exclusive technology. Microsoft and Sony even tried to break the dominance of the motion-controlled Wii by introducing their own motion peripherals – but they were never able to catch up to Nintendo.
Now, in the current generation, the drive to have exclusive titles is still huge for both Microsoft and Sony. And Capcom’s deal with Sony is just another deal between a game company and a console maker – it does not say anything about the superiority of the PS4 over the Xbox One. Speaking to GameSpot, Capcom has admitted that their deal with Sony is not about any belief that choosing the PS4 will increase their sales – it is just a good fit for their particular game:
“We’re not talking about how we’re handling post-launch content, but I can say the relationship with Sony does open doors for things we haven’t been able to do in the past,” the representative said. “The relationship serves a gameplay and development purpose, and not just a marketing value.”
Street Fighter V is exclusive to the PS4, and will be in the future, because the two companies have a deal right now, that benefits them both, right now. It is no more a statement about the superiority of the PS4 over the Xbox One than Halo’s exclusivity to Xbox 360 was a statement. They are both just business deals.
The benefits of the Capcom-Sony deal to both companies are many, and marketing dominance is really not one of them. Capcom did not “choose the PS4 over the Xbox One” really – they are simply following through on a deal.