Square Enix has finally detailed Rise of the Tomb Raider's exclusivity deal with Xbox. It was learned that PC gamers will have to wait six months before playing one of 2015's most anticipated titles, while those who want the PlayStation 4 version will be waiting a grueling 12 months.
If you look at the history of Xbox, Microsoft has made a wealth of timed exclusivity deals during its journey. More importantly, it has been very consistent in partnering with developers for titles that have had a huge impact. Below I will go over 10 games that have had timed exclusivity on Xbox, and discuss the impression they made on the gaming industry.
Top 10 Timed Exclusives Xbox Has Benefited From Like Rise of the Tomb Raider
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BioShock
Release Date on Xbox: August 21st, 2007
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: October 21st, 2008
rnMetacritic Rating: 96
rnOverall Impact: 5/5
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rnIt's almost hard to believe that back in 2007 this groundbreaking title from 2K Games was only available on Xbox 360 and PC. BioShock was a game that everyone was talking about due to its remarkable presentation and captivating story, and by the end of the year it would sweep almost all the game of the year awards. Arriving at a time when the PS3's software and cell processor were in doubt, it would summon a flood of Xbox 360 adopters during the holiday season. Timed exclusives don't get any bigger than this. -
Braid
Release Date on Xbox: August 6th, 2008
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: April 10th, 2009
rnMetacritic Rating: 93
rnOverall Impact: 4/5
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rnRecognized as one of the most successful indie games of all time, Braid was a title that breathed variety into the Xbox 360 library. Available at a reasonable price and only on Xbox Live for more than six months, it was a game which showed that indie titles can be just as prolific as those from AAA developers. By the time it arrived on PlayStation 3 its popularity had waned leaving Xbox with the spoils of war. -
Eternal Sonata
Release Date on Xbox: September 17th, 2007
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: October 21st, 2008
rnMetacritic Rating: 79
rnOverall Impact: 3/5
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rnDuring the first and second generations of PlayStation, the brand had earned itself a reputation for being the best place to enjoy JRPGs. Microsoft wanted a piece of that and approached Namco Bandai about a one-year exclusivity deal with its biggest title of 2007, Eternal Sonata. It was one of the first good JRPGs of the seventh generation of console, and Microsoft wanted to use it to sell consoles in Japan as well as North America. It had a mild level of impact, but didn't make waves as much as anticipated. Its PS3 version would perform admirably a year later. -
Mass Effect 2 (and 1)
Release Date on Xbox: January 26th, 2010 rnRelease Date on PlayStation: January 18th, 2011 rnMetacritic Rating: 96 rnOverall Impact: 5/5 rn rnIn 2010 there was no bigger game than Mass Effect 2. To this day it is regarded as one of the most powerful sci-fi action games in history, with qualities that many future titles would attempt to emulate but never duplicate. It was talked about in mainstream media for its sexual content, in gaming circles for its memorable experience, and among game reviewers for being an easy choice for game of the year. With the PS3 on a roll after the recent release of God of War 3 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Mass Effect 2 was an important title for Xbox's competitiveness at the time. However, unlike those titles, it would be multi-platform within the year. -
Minecraft (console version)
Release Date on Xbox: May 9th, 2012
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: December 13th, 2013
rnMetacritic Rating: 93
rnOverall Impact: 5/5
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rnNow available on more than six platforms, Minecraft is the third best-selling game of all-time with over 70 million units sold. Over 12 million of those are due to the Xbox 360 version, which was a smash hit in 2012. Although it was previously available on PC, many found the streamlined qualities of the console version superior for their tastes. It would get a huge head start over the PlayStation version which would debut many months later and sell far fewer units. Two years later Microsoft would acquire Mojang, the company responsible for Minecraft, for a whopping $2.5 billion. -
Ninja Gaiden 2
Release Date on Xbox: June 3rd, 2008
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: September 29th, 2009
rnMetacritic Rating: 81
rnOverall Impact: 3/5
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rnEven from the early days of Xbox the brand was known for its surplus of great shooters. So, Microsoft's one year exclusivity deal with Team Ninja for Ninja Gaiden 2 was a relatively important one. Alongside Castle Crashers, it would make the Xbox 360 the primary destination for beat-em-up/action style games in 2008. The PS3 would get an enhanced port in 2009 which would go on to sell nearly as many units (just shy of one million). -
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Release Date on Xbox: March 20th, 2006
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: March 20th, 2007
rnMetacritic Rating: 94
rnOverall Impact: 5/5
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rnOut of all the entries on this list, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is without a doubt the most shocking. Shortly after the arrival of the Xbox 360 it would receive one of the biggest games of the decade. Since the PS3 wasn't to be released for more than half a year, Xbox would hold timed exclusivity through marketing when it already had strong momentum. It can be argued that Oblivion is one of the most important elements of the platform's high early adoption rates. It only helped that when the PS3 version arrived in 2007 it wouldn't run nearly as well thanks to the Cell Processor. -
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Release Date on Xbox: February 25th, 2014
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: August 19th, 2014
rnMetacritic Rating: 76
rnOverall Impact: 2/5
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rnEA has a history of making deals with Microsoft, and would offer six months of timed exclusivity to the giant in 2014 with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. Both parties were expecting it to be a smash hit, not only because it received a lot of pre-release praise, but belonged to an IP that had multi million dollar success on mobile. Unfortunately, the game wouldn't sell particularly well, and wouldn't make the meaningful impact that Microsoft wanted. The only reason it isn't' considered a bomb is because it is actually a fun and well put-together game. Nonetheless, it would struggle to hit 500,000 units sold on Xbox One. -
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Release Date on Xbox: February 23rd, 2009
rnRelease Date on PlayStation: February 8th, 2010
rnMetacritic Rating: 72
rnOverall Impact: 2/5
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rnStar Ocean: The Last Hope was one of the most recent pushes by Microsoft to increase JRPG presence in its library and try to move units in Japan. It would sell relatively well, and actually perform better on Xbox 360 than its PS3 counterpart that debuted a year later. However, it wasn't a very popular JRPG, and wasn't received very well by the press. -
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
Release Date on Xbox: January 12th, 2007 rnRelease Date on PlayStation: February 26th, 2008 rnMetacritic Rating: 79 rnOverall Impact: 2/5 rn rnCapcom's deal with Microsoft in 2007 prompted one of the first timed exclusives in the history of video games. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was expected to be a hit early in the Xbox 360's lifespan, improving on its shooter superiority over the PS3. However, it wouldn't perform particularly well critically due to its lack of polish. That said, it had a brilliant presentation for the time as well as a great premise that would propel it to over one million units sold.
