SCEA: Exclusives aren't as commonplace as the PS2 days

News by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson News Editor

Published on Feb. 17, 2010

SCEA VP of public relations, Rob Dyer, has said that he sees the console exclusivity trend disappearing in the future, citing that "exclusives just aren't as commonplace as they were during the PS2" era.

However, he does see advertisements being the way forward in getting consumers to purchase one console version over the other, and exemplifies this by bringing up the Batman: Arkham Asylum and Madden ad campaigns.

“I point to a couple big examples. One is Batman: Arkham Asylum, with what the guys at Eidos and Rocksteady did, and I point to Madden and the unique campaign EA put behind it with us, showing promotions that were very PS3 focused. And that really drove sales," Dryer explained to IndustryGamers.

"Look, we're not going to get the exclusive games. The Mass Effects, Gears of Wars and Left 4 Deads aren't going to happen nearly as often. But we have our own first-party development and exclusives like Final Fantasy XIV and Agent. Exclusives just aren't as commonplace as they were during the PS2 days.

"What is going to be the driving force is either exclusive ad campaigns, like the Madden campaign, or exclusive content like we had with Batman. The PS3 version outsold the 360 version, and what we've said to [developers] is 'If you take advantage of what the PS3 can deliver – more content on the Blu-ray disc, better graphics, being able to get more of what the player wants onto the disc – you're going to see those sales translate.'

"[EA Sports and Eidos] would both tell you that by focusing on PS3 and its virtues and what it provides, it translated into much bigger sales and bang for the buck.

"So what we've been doing is going to publishers and using that as our basic story, and going after exclusive content. You're going to see a lot of that, and for example, you're seeing it now with Dante's Inferno. EA had the collector's edition only on PS3. They filled up that Blu-ray disc and were able to do a lot more that they couldn't with 360.

"The consumer is starting to understand that – there's a lot of cross-ownership between PS3 and 360, and so we're now trying to differentiate that and give that consumer a reason to buy the PS3 version instead of the 360 version.”

During the same interview, Dyer mentioned how many first-party studios Sony has compared with its biggest rival Microsoft.

He even went so far to say that the Seattle giant would rather throw money at publishers for exclusivity rights instead of focusing on wholly owned studios.