There’s been a long drought when it comes to quality Xbox exclusives, and the disastrous launch of Redfall isn’t doing anything to change that. The much anticipated co-op vampire hunting FPS was released on Xbox Series X/S and PC on May 2, 2023, free to Game Pass subscribers but with a $70 price tag for everyone else. It’s since garnered a spate of negative consumer reviews, with players skewering everything from its lacking visuals to its confused AI and its malfunctioning multiplayer across Steam and Xbox store reviews. Reviews of Redfall praised the chaotic fun of its vampire hunting combat, while critiquing its repetitive missions and barebones character classes.
Redfall was expected to be one of the biggest new Xbox exclusives this year, but with the controversy surrounding its release, it’d have to make an abrupt and stunning recovery for that prediction to come true. Just over two years into its life cycle, sales of the Xbox Series X and S have slowed greatly; the platform is just waiting on a big hit to draw more players in. Although it’s had minor hits here and there, its catalog is crammed with controversies and disappointments.
It’s Been Too Long Since Xbox Had A Must-Play Exclusive
The list of Xbox exclusives over the past few years is short, and at times controversial. The latest installment in the Halo franchise was divisive, in no small part due to Halo Infinite‘s hefty microtransactions. Forza Horizon 5, meanwhile, was a critical and commercial success. However, there are few other crowd-pleasing exclusive games on the Xbox Series X and S. Most Xbox exclusives are highly focused titles with limited appeal, like the chill-yet-complicated Microsoft Flight Simulator or the point-and-click medieval murder mystery Pentiment, which despite being niche won Screen Rant‘s 2022 Game of the Year award. These are great games in their own right, but they’re not exactly the kinds of crowd pleasers that sell $500 consoles. Redfall could have had that kind of universal appeal, but its bugged launch makes that difficult.
Moreover, the few successful, big-budget Xbox exclusives in the past few years have all been rehashes of long-running series. Sure, Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 have their charms, but they’re nothing new. Both of these franchises have been around for decades, and while they’ve found ways to innovate on their formulas, they’re still, at their cores, the same as they’ve always been. To draw in more players, Xbox needs a popular franchise that not only appeals to a wide audience, but is also unique – the kind of thing you can’t find on any other console. Redfall‘s co-op horror gameplay promised that factor – there’s certainly no equivalent on PlayStation – but its flawed release means it likely won’t become a bestseller.
PlayStation Has Consistently Delivered Quality Exclusives
While Xbox exclusives have been in dire straits, the PS5 has had a series of big, exclusive hits. Beginning with the Demon’s Souls remake, which released as a launch title, and extending through the releases of Returnal, God of War: Ragnarök, and Horizon Forbidden West, including its excellent Burning Shores DLC, the PS5’s exclusive catalog is full of big-name successes. With the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 16 and Spider-Man 2 set for PS5 release later this year, it looks like that list will continue to grow. Although it hasn’t all been a bed of roses – console exclusive Babylon‘s Fall comes to mind – PS5 exclusives have simply been more hit than miss. Sony simply doesn’t have as much riding on a single big release like Redfall.
Game Pass & Microsoft’s Acquisitions May Be Hurting The Xbox Exclusive Situation
Xbox Game Pass is an excellent service for consumers, offering a wide variety of games for a monthly fee, but it may not be as great an incentive for AAA game developers as the traditional sales model. Redfall, which became available on Game Pass immediately upon release, is no exception. Microsoft has kept quiet about how developers are compensated for day-one Game Pass releases, but if they’re paid a flat fee, that requires them to hedge their bets and potentially miss out on sales revenue. Many, including former Xbox executive Ed Fries, have negatively compared the system to Spotify’s compensation structure, which has come under fire for giving more popular artists a share of the revenue from indie musicians’ streams.
While it might seem like it’s up to developers’ judgment to decide whether they put their games on Game Pass day one, another practice of Microsoft’s could be exacerbating the issue. Microsoft has spent the past few years buying up the competition, acquiring, among others, Mojang, Obsidian Entertainment, and ZeniMax Studios, which includes Redfall‘s developer and publisher, Arkane and Bethesda respectively. This last acquisition created controversy before Redfall was even released when Microsoft abruptly nixed its PS5 release, instead making it an Xbox/Game Pass exclusive. While this practice is probably geared at securing a greater number of quality exclusives, Microsoft seems to have its hand in too many pies. Perhaps a single, focused, Microsoft-owned studio/publisher akin to Sony Interactive Entertainment would work better.
In addition to potentially spreading the company too thin, Microsoft’s many acquisitions have repeatedly caused legal troubles. Most recently, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority blocked Microsoft’s attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard, claiming it would give Microsoft too large a share of the video game market, particularly with regard to the cloud gaming sphere. For their part, executives at Microsoft intend to appeal this decision and move forward with the acquisition.
There’s Hope That Starfield Will Be A Successful Xbox Exclusive
With Redfall seemingly down for the count, all hopes for Xbox exclusive game sales in 2023 rest on the shoulders of Starfield, an outer space-themed RPG from Elder Scrolls and Fallout powerhouse Bethesda. Slated for release on September 6, 2023, after a delay the year prior, Starfield could very well be the success story Xbox has been waiting for. However, just four months out from its release, no one really knows anything about Starfield beyond the very basics. Starfield Direct, a live event scheduled for June 11, promises to reveal more about the upcoming release.
Other than Starfield, it seems like every other Xbox exclusive remains just out of reach, with few having so much as a release window to go by. Ark 2 is due out this year – although no specific date has been given. State of Decay 3, the Fable reboot, The Outer Worlds 2 – all are said to be in the works, but none have a concrete release date, or more than just basic details publicly available. With Redfall‘s poor performance and so little to go by on other big releases, it could be awhile before Xbox gets its breakthrough hit.
With another troubled release to chalk up, hopefully someone at Microsoft sees the writing on the wall. The current program of frantic acquisition and day-one Game Pass drops doesn’t seem to be working in anyone’s favor. A more focused approach to obtaining new exclusives, with a fair compensation plan for game developers, might be a preferable approach. The Xbox Series X and S are sufficiently powerful consoles, and Game Pass has a staggering backlog of wonderful games to explore; it’d be a shame to see them continuously held back by mistakes similar to those made with the release of Redfall.
Source: Brad Smith/Twitter
