The day before yesterday, Microsoft dropped the first bombshell at Gamescom 2014 when the company announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider would be an Xbox exclusive. But wait, that’s not true at all.
In fact, it now turns out that this announcement was just another case of corporate ambiguity, because it is just that time-limited exclusivity. “Yes, the deal has a duration,” explained Xbox boss Phil Spencer opposite SamaGame. “I didn’t buy it. I don’t own the franchise.”
In other words: When Microsoft announced the day before yesterday that the next big one Tomb Raider If the game was an Xbox exclusive, this simply meant that the game would be released first for Xbox (360 and One) and only later for other platforms.
Spencer It was not possible to reveal how long the title will be exclusive. “There are certain things I’m just not going to talk about because it’s a business deal between us and then. Obviously the deal does have a duration. I didn’t buy the IP in perpetuity.”
Compare this to a statement from developers Crystal Dynamics yesterday:
As you may have seen, we’ve just announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming Holiday 2015, is exclusively on Xbox.
Or with what Microsoft said in its own press release:
Led by the announcement that “Rise of the TombRaider” from Crystal Dynamics will launch in holiday 2015, exclusively on Xbox…
So remember: in the world of video games, “exclusive” very, very rarely actually means “exclusive.”
Good job, guys. You made tons of fans angry for absolutely no reason.
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