In a generation that seems to be sounding the death-knell for third party exclusives, developer Capcom is still flying their flag proudly, claiming that there is “still room” for such titles. Capcom marketing Vice President Nique Fajors claimed that third party exclusivity was not yet a dead concept, provided the right conditions can be met.
“Exclusives are driven by gameplay functionality and cost,” Fajors told Next-Gen. “If you get your gameplay functionality and costs right, exclusivity can work.” I think it’s safe to say that cost is a far, far bigger drive than that fanciful “gameplay” lark he’s talking about. What the hell is “gameplay,” anyway?
Capcom’s current-gen exclusives include Zack & Wiki on the Wii, Phoenix Wright on the DS and Dead Rising on the Xbox 360. Former exclusives like Lost Planet and the Devil May Cry series have gone multiplatform, and that’s a good thing. What’s the point in denying thousands, if not millions, of potential customers? It’s common business sense.
Dead or not, there’s no denying that third party exclusivity is being downsized, even by Capcom. Games cost so much to develop, that only a dreadnought full of cash from a platform holder would make an exclusive sensible. Any company that insists on staying loyal to a particular console isn’t being too reasonable and needs to accept the nature of the times. The terrain has changed, and third party exclusives are becoming an ever-increasing waste of time and money.
