A measured take
Though I won’t fully lump Nintendo and Xbox together. Nintendo’s roadmap and plan is clear as it’s always been, that’s just how they are. While the writing is on the wall for Xbox in terms of multiplat their messaging is still all over the show. In the span of a few months we’ve went from rumors, to 4 games don’t expect everything to more games will come to more platforms. Not to mention them trying to hype up next gen. Their messaging is a direct result of unclear strategy and unrest in the fanbase. In terms of games though, we have a clear outlook of what to expect from Xbox yes but also have to remember a lot of these games were also known for a long, long time.
Sony, yeah, they’re in a super weird spot and I have very mixed feeling about where they’re at right now. I think the pivot to GaaS caused the most issues both internally and within the fanbase. They’ve put out great games these past 4 years but you’re still left with this weird feeling and it’s because we really have no insight into what’s coming next for them and it sucks. I think the work they’ve done on partnerships has more than kept my interest in the platform and it’s where they’ve truly shone this gen but on the first party side I can’t help but feel kinda let down. If 2025 really is the year we see heavy hitters I hope we see them this year.
Well WRT Xbox; when they did that "business update" I knew they were never gonna outright confirm the January Discord leak. There was no reason to. The way I see it, their strategy is:
-PC (Steam) Day 1 for all their games
-PS5 & Nintendo Day 1 for all Zenimax & ABK games
-PS5 & Nintendo 6-12 months later for all XGS games
That's what Microsoft's release strategy looks like for me. And by the end of this gen (or when the next Xbox devices launch), even the XGS games will likely be Day 1 on PS & Switch (barring the odd exception like a Flight Sim). MS are just trying to not piss off their diehard console warriors, trying to ease them into accepting the new future and that takes time.
Nintendo is very clear-cut that the only platform they support outside of their own hardware with games, is mobile. And even there, the games are offshoots, and Nintendo always has proper "real" versions of those games exclusive to their systems made by 1P teams, or 3P teams as 2P deals. It's the most minimal amount of messiness for multiplatform as a platform holder, and I can rely on that being the case at least for another full hardware generation from them, if not longer.
Sony/SIE are in this weird space where they say GAAS games are Day 1 on PC to grab a large userbase, but wouldn't the non-GAAS games also benefit from having as large a userbase as possible? A weird space where stuff like Destiny 2 is on Xbox, yet Helldivers 2 isn't? A weird space where LEGO Horizon is Day 1 on Steam, but Astro Bot is a PS5 exclusive? If so, for how long? Would it have been $50 or $40 if it came to Steam Day 1? How is Astro Bot's exclusivity justified by it being "so PlayStation", yet a tentpole IP like Horizon that's massive on PS4 & PS5 somehow isn't "PlayStation enough"?
And it's not even just that. Also things like the Nvidia leak having been 100% spot-on for SIE games, so it's just a matter of when (not if) Demon's Souls & GT7 get their PC ports announced. So is PS5 only going to have 1P exclusives (like, genuine exclusives) of smaller (compared to TLOU, Horizon, Spiderman etc.) IP such as Astro Bot, and dead GAAS games like Destruction All-Stars? How does porting all the other stuff to PC convince some PC gamers to buy a PS5, exactly? My gut tells me it's a line of thinking that makes no sense, because SIE know that goal is unattainable with the way they are handling their porting strategy and look to accelerate it in the future.
Nintendo clearly want to sell people their hardware and their software support strategy backs that up 100% of the way. Clear, concise, to the point. Microsoft doesn't give a damn if you get an Xbox or have a PC, or some TV/tablet with Game Pass. Just as long as you're in their ecosystem somehow (Xbox, Windows, Game Pass) to access their games, that's good enough for them. Their software strategy shows this to be the case. A bit messy in practice, more messy with optics, but enough evidence to show that is clearly what they're doing and PlayStation & Nintendo will be additional platform for their games with parity to Xbox & PC in short order.
Sony are in this weird spot where they of course want to sell people PlayStations, but they "need" to satisfy shareholders and push for growth, so they're taking the easiest-to-implement option and just porting all their stuff to PC. But it's to Steam, a storefront they have no vested interests in, and to Windows OS, an operating system they also have no vested interests in. And their "case by case" mantra is (at least publicly) defined by rules that are contradictory. It's like some truth is being purposefully obfuscated because they hope people, in the midst of the confusion, just default for the console even if some would've chosen to buy those games on PC/Steam instead or whatever else
IF they knew the rules more clearly.