Several large video games that may be exclusively represented

[Narrator] The gaming industry is currently filled with stories in the news about massive companies buying up other larger companies.

Now publishers and developers have always changed hands in gaming, it’s not new,but we’ve never seen a massive shift in consolidation like this before on such a like large, crazy scale.

And because of it, many have
speculated that some games

may end up being exclusive
to another platform,

or at least specifically timed exclusives.

Some games and some titles
are more at risk than others.

And we do have a lot of speculation here,

but we’re we’re just having
fun, don’t freak out.

Let’s just talk about some 10 or so games

and just remember that
nothing lasts forever.

So starting off with number 10,

let’s talk about the Final Fantasy series.

A series that has always
hued closer to PlayStation

but has kind of bounced around
a little bit here and there.

Things have become a little bit more open.

Yeah, you could say it’s potentially

a little bit more in flux right now.

Specifically because, as you
remember just a few months ago,

Square Enix sold off a
portion of its studios.

Now those who are Western
studios, not Japanese studios.

So we got to see the sell
off of Crystal Dynamics.

The people behind Marvel’s “Avengers”,

“Tomb Raider”, stuff like that.

But according to a report from
VGC citing a Japanese analyst

Square Enix actually has
multiple phases of plans

with the first I
referenced being phase one.

But with phase two, essentially,

they are looking to sell
more stakes in their studios.

According to the report,

some studios will remain a 100%

while others will change

via like equity methods or joint ventures.

And although this is still expected

to be focused more on
US and European studios.

So they are apparently trying to focus

more on their Japanese tent pole titles,

but you never really know.

The whole phrase that has
been thrown around here

is improving capital efficiency.

And when you hear words like that,

you know deals can be made to
get some extra cash on hand.

And that’s where exclusivity
deals come in from.

So you never know, again,

I wanna point out like with all of these,

we’re just talking out of our ass.

But the Final Fantasy franchise
has been an interesting one.

I mean, look at “Final Fantasy VII”.

Pretty much exclusive to PlayStation,

but now we have the spinoff
remake of “Crisis Core”

actually being multi-platform.

You know, who knows what’s
going on over there?

Now, next over at number nine,
we have “Life is Strange”.

A franchise that is Square Enix

and it could be part of what I
was talking about previously,

their next phase of selling off more US

and European studios.

With “Life is Strange” being
developed by a European studio,

Square Enix could technically be open

to selling off the brand.

Now, if “Life is Strange”

were to end up in some sort of big deal,

I expect it more to be bought up

by one of the bigger ones
that do multi-platform stuff.

You know, Embracer Group and Tencent

seem to be more content on
putting their games everywhere.

So I don’t know for sure,
but for conversation’s sake

it was another interesting
one to throw out here.

And that leads over to
number eight, “Dragon Quest”.

Another Square Enex
franchise, and another one

that we’ve seen people
bring up in conversations

and kind of stress, some worry
about it going exclusive.

But I don’t know about this one.

I think this one might be all right.

Personally, if you ask me, I
just work here, I don’t know.

But “Dragon Quest” back
in the the old days

was on less platforms and
now you see it spread out

across Xbox and PlayStation.

And I think really it just
comes down to Xbox players

that like “Dragon Quest”
just hoping it sticks around.

Hey man, “Dragon Quest” games are great,

but as long as they save
“Dragon Quest Builders”.

Man, those games are really underrated,

and I really love those and I
want those to be everywhere.

Now, next over at number seven,

we gotta mention an obvious
one, it’s “Fallout”.

The Fallout franchise is probably

going to eventually end up
being an exclusive thing.

Exclusive to, of course,
Xbox and Microsoft Windows.

It’s probably, if we’re
reading the tea leaves,

just a matter of time.

I mean the fact that “Starfield”,
Bethesda’s next big thing,

is now confirmed to be exclusive to Xbox,

since Xbox owns all of Bethesda.

It really makes sense for
“Fallout” to follow that trend.

So yes, this video is Games At Risk.

I think “Fallout” is an inevitability.

Now next over at number six,

if we’re talking about
inevitability “Doom” is another one.

Now “Doom” technically is
owned by Xbox and Microsoft.

And with their acquisitions,

they are intent on keeping

a lot of their stuff on
Xbox consoles and PC.

So if the next “Doom” does
go more exclusive, man,

that is a lot of PlayStation players

that are missing out on “Doom” goodness.

It could very well happen,
we don’t know for sure.

It’s a little bit different

than a Bethesda Game Studios game,

but money makes the world go round.

I don’t know.

As long as “Doom” doesn’t
abandon its PC roots,

as long as I can always
play that thing on PC,

because that’s where the
franchise was originally born

and bred, I will be happy.

Now next over at number five,

games that are at risk
of becoming exclusives,

“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater”.

Now “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater”
is under Activision Blizzard

which is another thing
owned by Xbox-Microsoft.

The thing is man, that Tony Hawk

at this point is pretty much dead.

The most recent reports suggest

that “Tony Hawk’s Pro
Skater” one and two did well.

There were intentions to make

possibly a Tony Hawk three
and four remaster-remake.

But things fell through after
developers vicarious visions

were kind of more swallowed up

into the Activision Blizzard hold.

And I mean now with Activision Blizzard

being owned by Xbox, who knows?

I foresee the franchise to go
dormant once again for a while

but I’m really hoping it
sees a resurgence one day,

and I’d really hope for it
to still be multi-platform.

Because me personally, I
like playing these games

with a PlayStation
controller, but who knows man.

Crazier things have happened.

Next over at number four,

we have another one that’s pretty much

an inevitability at this point.

It’s the “Elder Scrolls VI”,

a game that has been officially
announced by Bethesda.

Including this one is kind of a joke

’cause it’s not really a matter

of if it’s going to become exclusive,

it’s more of a matter of when.

Again, I’m going to point
specifically to “Starfield”

which is exclusive to Xbox and PC.

That’s Bethesda, you
know, the game studio,

the actual developer,
it’s their next big RPG.

So if that’s exclusive,
it’s safe to assume

that beyond that titles,
like I mentioned before,

“Fallout” and of course
now “Elder Scrolls VI”

are probably gonna be exclusive.

It does seem pretty
crazy to make a franchise

that massive exclusive to one platform.

But again, like I said earlier,

money makes the world go round.

And even with that cynicism aside,

let’s look at what Phil Spencer said

in an interview a few months back with GQ.

It’s not about punishing
any other platform,

like I fundamentally
believe all of the platforms

can continue to grow, but
in order to be on Xbox

I want us to be able to bring the full,

complete package of what we have.

And that will be true when I
think about “Elder Scrolls VI”.

That will be true when I think
about any of our franchises.

So there you have it
from the horse’s mouth.

Technically of course
these corporate-type people

definitely play word salad,

but that’s about as plain
as they’ve put it so far.

So yeah, there you go.

Next over at number three,
let’s talk about one

from a bit more left field, “Overwatch”.

Yes, this is one that people don’t really

immediately think of as
eventually going exclusive

in any shape or form.

But the multi-platform shooter

that everybody seems to love,

that is also getting the
official sequel “Overwatch 2”,

fairly soon could
eventually end up exclusive.

Because it is part of Activision Blizzard,

and Activision Blizzard
is owned by Microsoft.

Now specifically they have come out

and said that they don’t
wanna break up the communities

of current multiplayer
Activision Blizzard games.

I mean, think about it.

Think about all those Legacy PC games

that have been built up
by Activision Blizzard.

I mean, people are still
playing “StarCraft”.

People are still playing
“World of Warcraft”.

The PC community for
“Overwatch” is massive,

but plenty of people also love

certain Activision Blizzard
games on PlayStation consoles.

So that’s where it’s currently at.

You’re not gonna see “World of
Warcraft” suddenly lock down

harder on a Microsoft
ecosystem anytime soon.

And I mean, “Overwatch 2”

is going to be completely multi-platform.

So they’re backing up what they said

by keeping current
things absolutely normal,

but they have also explained
that brand new titles

in the future will be a different story.

We do know because some Microsoft
representatives have said

that Activision Blizzard
titles will be Xbox exclusive

eventually following the
whole acquisition deal.

We just don’t necessarily know what yet.

Is it going to be something
like “Overwatch 3”?

You never know, but we’re just
gonna have to wait and see.

Next down to number two

we’re talking about some of
the bigger “what if” scenarios.

It’s Bungie’s next game, or their games,

whatever they make in the future.

As you probably know,

Sony is acquiring Bungie
for billions of dollars.

So of course that puts their
future games in question.

Bungie has seemingly been
allowed to come out by Sony,

with their blessing, and completely deny.

Answering the question if
games currently in development

will become exclusive PlayStation games?

They said straight up, no.

Their quote is, no, we want
the worlds we are creating

to extend to anywhere people play games.

We will continue to be self-published,

creatively independent,
and we will continue

to drive one unified Bungie community.

It’s worth pointing out that
they have also made statements

that they want to tell new
stories in the “Destiny” universe

and create entirely new worlds

in to-be-announced
intellectual properties.

So is Sony gonna be the cool parent here?

Just kind of overseeing them, owning them,

reaping some of the benefits,

but ultimately letting
them do whatever they want

and put their games wherever they want?

We still don’t know for sure specifically,

because the question answered

was games currently in development.

Now we’ve known Bungie

has been working on a bunch of things.

More “Destiny” content,
but also new games.

So they answered specifically

that the games that they
have been working on

are not going to be
PlayStation exclusives.

But further down the line,
say five, 10 years from now?

Are we going to see Bungie’s
games exclusive to PlayStation?

I don’t know for sure.

I’d say at the very least

they’re probably gonna
make one experience,

or one thing be exclusive to PlayStation.

But you never know.

Specifically, this is
different from the Xbox deals

because it is still in the early stages.

We haven’t really seen too
much roll out from this yet.

And it’s going to be a while

before we really see the ripple effects.

Now down to number one,
let’s talk “Call of Duty”.

This is the biggest “to be
continued” on this whole list.

Because as of right now,
surprising a lot of people,

Xbox has come out and said, no,

we’re gonna allow “Call of Duty”

to still remain on everything.

The community is so big

and we’re gonna keep things the same.

Now, if you ask me personally,

it’s because there’s just so much money

being made on “Call of Duty”.

That franchise, whether
you like it or not,

is just straight up like its own industry

in and of itself, which
is absolutely wild.

So for the near future, no,

“Call of Duty” is not
going to be exclusive

to Xbox or something like that.

But again, it’s another
thing on this list where

you know, a few years down the line,

maybe if “Call of Duty”
loses a little steam?

I don’t know, who knows what could happen.

So again, this is a list of just games

that are at risk of becoming exclusives

in some way shape or form.

A fun conversation, just
kind of a look at “what if”

and just trying to make a little sense

of all of these super
big corporate buy-ups

as the dust settles.

But again, we’re just
armchair quarterbacking here.

We’re not experts.

So we wanna know what you
guys think in the comments

about all of these.

Now there’s probably going
to be some console war stuff

but we’re just looking at it

really just from a property
acquisition stance.

Every company is different,

and we’re curious to
see what the moves are,

but we’re real curious
to see what you think

about this stuff, so let us know.

And if you enjoy talking
about this stuff with us,

all you gotta do is click the Like button.

We put out videos every day
and we’re just having fun.

So let us know, but as always,

thanks for watching and
we’ll see you guys next time.