Gaming consoles have historically been defined by their exclusive games. Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis, Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation, Grand Theft Auto III on PS2, Halo: Combat Evolved on Xbox and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch are synonymous with their respective platforms. They were the main reason you’d choose one system over the others. However, as we head into the second half of the current console generation, exclusive games aren’t as important as they once were.
Starting with the last console generation and going all in this gen, Microsoft has not released a single Xbox Series X game that's only playable on that system. You can enjoy Xbox titles on the best gaming PCs and on mobile devices via Xbox Cloud Gaming. On top of that, certain first-party Xbox games like Sea of Thieves, Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush are currently available on the PS5. And even Sony's first-party games aren’t exactly exclusive, as several games like Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War 2018 and The Last of Us Part 1 (to name a few) are also on PC.
I’ve been gaming since the NES days and exclusives have always been the major reason why I bought specific consoles. But now in 2025, it’s clear that things are changing. Though losing exclusives can arguably diminish a console’s identity, it’s ultimately a good thing for both gamers and the gaming industry. I’ll explain why.
Play anywhere
Gaming is one of the few (if only) entertainment mediums that require users to own specific hardware to consume content. For instance, Blu-ray discs work on any Blu-ray player, regardless of the manufacturer. The same goes for streaming services and the best TVs, or music streaming services on the best phones. But for gaming, exclusive games are locked to certain machines.
While having exclusives incentivizes folks toward a particular platform, this practice has slowly gone out of favor. Thanks to launchers like Steam that allow you to play your games on PC and the best handheld gaming consoles, and mobile games that run on the best Android tablets and the best iPads, people are used to starting a game on one device and continuing on another. Add features like cross-play that allow players on different platforms to play together, and exclusives seem more and more outdated.
This is why I tend to buy third-party developed games on PC. I like the freedom of playing games on PC while I’m at home and continuing on the Steam Deck OLED when I’m on the road. Xbox and its Play Anywhere ethos is the next best thing, as you can start a game on Series X and continue on the Asus ROG Ally (for example) so long as said title is also available on PC. Sony’s Cloud Game Stream Beta for PlayStation Portal lets you do the same with select PS4 and PS5 games.
Another reason console exclusivity makes less sense is that gaming hardware is so similar. This isn’t the days of the PS3’s Cell Processor, as both the PS5 and Xbox Series X run on the same x86 architecture as PC CPUs. This is why most games look and run almost identically on Sony and Microsoft’s systems. Let’s not forget that the systems largely have the same third-party games, which makes them less distinct from one another. At this point, save for their respective UIs and achievements, the PS5 and Xbox Series X are effectively the same. Which begs the question: what is the point of exclusives?
As Moon Studios’ creative director, Tom Mahler said on X (formerly Twitter), "rooting for one huge corporation to sell more boxes over another strikes me as fantastically senseless... We should all just share in the love for games!"
Outlook
I know a world without console exclusives sounds strange. However, given the changing landscape, it appears that possibility will become a reality. The only “exclusives” would be a system's unique features. But despite minor differences, you’d still get the same gaming experience, whether it’s on Xbox or PlayStation. I don’t see that as a bad thing.
Of course, if you want true console exclusives, there’s always Nintendo with the Switch 2. But that’s a story for another day.
More from Tom's Guide
- Where to buy RTX 5090 and RTX 5080
- Don’t worry, Xbox fans, your favorite console isn’t dead yet
- PS5 vs. Xbox Series X: Which console wins?
