Yes, I know Xbox will get Bethesda exclusives in the future. I get it. The Elder Scrolls. Doom. Et cetera, et cetera.
But that doesn’t achieve parity with PlayStation exclusives. Not on its own. Microsoft is going to have to do a lot of work in order to get console exclusives to the level that Sony enjoys. Horizon Zero Dawn. The Uncharted series. God of War. Ratchet and Clank. Marvel’s Spiderman. The Last of Us. Final Fantasy.
The list goes on. There is such a history of rich games here that are synonymous with PlayStation.
What does Xbox have? Halo?
I say this as someone who grew up with Halo and Halo 2. Those were massively fun and influential games but that series died a long time ago. It’s not on the same level as many of the PlayStation alternatives. And after Halo, Xbox just doesn’t really have a ton of great exclusives. Gears of War doesn’t count, for whoever was about to say that. And I'll consider dying on that hill.
Now, let me clarify. I hope Xbox gets there. I really do. And I even think the Xbox Series X might have an edge on the PlayStation 5. But that’s because of Game Pass. Not because of their exclusive games. As the launch trailer for PlayStation shows above, there are a lot of different worlds to lose yourself in when playing on the next-gen console. The launch lineup is pretty weak for both consoles, but PlayStation just has a better library. I don’t think it can really be argued.
So while I love PlayStation and have a lot of affection for the many exclusives that have been influential to me, I say this as someone who really wants Xbox to succeed. Because there is the potential for them to mess this up. They could ruin a lot of these studios that they’ve acquired. All in the name of creating appealing exclusives for Xbox players.
I hope that doesn’t happen. I hope they’re willing to put in the work to allow the developers the freedom to make awesome titles.
For now, though, I’m still leaning toward the PlayStation 5. Because of the games. And I don’t know how you can argue with that.
