No. And I wouldn’t even say the same for Nintendo. Xbox and PlayStation consoles are pretty much the same thing these days, why should you have to buy the same console twice? And in an era (I still disagree with) with mid-gen refreshes, shoot….. That’s four gaming consoles at $500 in 6 years.
So, here’s what’s happening. By Xbox going third-party, they have less of an influence on dictating the market, and it’s Xbox’s business practices that’s a major problem, that’s what needs to be flushed out. Now, N4G isn’t going to allow me enough characters to make my full point, because it’s deep and you have to be able to lay the groundwork for it, but it’s just not possible, but do your research and you’ll see it. Paid DLC came about as the result of Xbox. Microtransactions was Xbox, Electronic Arts, Activision, and Ubisoft making a push trying to mimic the mobile market. Electronic Arts was pushing Lootboxes and it was such a problem, the United States legal system had to kick in an ban it…… But it didn’t stop them, those card packs you get for Ultimate Team? It’s a digital slot machine that exists in NFL games (only developed by EA) and NHL games (only developed by EA because 2K doesn’t want to compete with them). To stay relevant in the gaming world, Sony followed suit with The Show and Nintendo now does microtransactions. Xbox has always been at the forefront to support this and pick the gamers pocket. It didn’t start out this way, it was Xbox trying to get some kind of exclusivity where Sony had been in the market so long, like Nintendo that had spent years building relationships, Microsoft just did what they always did and reached in their deep pockets…… Way to work for and earn your success Microsoft. But today, developers complete their game and before it goes Gold and they head off for vacation, they dissect the game and sell you 60% of the game, let’s say, and store the other 40% for later. That 60% they sell you today for $69.99 and then sell you the remaining 40% to follow their business plan for the duration of the game. At some point, if the games big enough and the teams we’ll rested, they’ll create more. An example of this, if you’re smart, you can see with Street Fighter 6 and watching Xbox’s documentary on bringing Killer Instinct back to the Xbox, you can see the shady details but, I only have 4,000 characters.
Sony, however, is sort of trying to come back from this with the old PS2 mentality. Legends was DLC given for free to those who bought Ghost of Tsushima. Valhalla was DLC given for free to those who bought God of War Ragnarok, and Capcom even dipped their toe in with VR DLC given for free to those who bought the PlayStation 5 version of Resident Evil 4 Remake. This is how it should have been, but Xbox changed that. When you buy that game, you’ve boughten the game, that’s why sequels existed.
This is just one example of Xbox’s business practices
