The Future of Console Gaming: A Shift Towards Multiplatform Releases

The console gaming landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. Recent headlines, such as the news that six of PlayStation's top ten best-selling games in Q2 2025 were published by Microsoft, have sparked a mix of confusion and excitement among gamers and industry observers alike. The question on everyone's mind is: what does this mean for the future of console gaming? Is this a victory for Microsoft, or a triumph for Sony? The answer, however, is more nuanced. The reality is that this is a positive development for both companies, as it reflects a fundamental shift in the console gaming market towards multiplatform releases. The ideal scenario for any console manufacturer is to sell its first-party games exclusively on its own platform, where margins are highest. However, if that's not possible, the next best option is to sell games on a rival platform or have a third-party publisher release games on its platform. Microsoft's decision to publish games on rival platforms, such as PlayStation, was driven by the relative underperformance of Xbox compared to PlayStation and Switch. This move, however, is not an anomaly; it's part of a broader trend towards multiplatform releases that is becoming a commercial reality for both Sony and Microsoft. The calculus behind this decision is straightforward: weigh the potential sales of a game on a rival platform against its potential value as an exclusive title on your own platform. This equation has many moving parts, but the key variables are clear. How much audience growth potential is there on your own platform? How likely is it that a given game will drive new consumers to buy your console? Conversely, how much of a threat is your rival's platform to yours? What are the odds that a given consumer will choose to buy their console over your own? These variables play out differently depending on the game in question, but for some of Sony's titles, the commercial benefit of reaching a new market will outweigh the potential of driving PlayStation sales through exclusivity. As publishers and platform holders scramble to find growth opportunities, this trend will become impossible to ignore. The fact that game consoles no longer receive price cuts during their lifespan means that one of the key dynamics of previous generations – where owners of one console would buy the others cheaply to play exclusive titles – is no longer a viable option. Instead, enticing Xbox owners to buy a PS5 is a tough sell, so why not make money by selling them some of your software lineup instead? The pros and cons will need to be worked out on a case-by-case basis. For live-service games, where establishing a critical mass of players is crucial, multiplatform releases will become the norm, with narrow exclusivity windows. For high-quality narrative-driven action adventure games, however, Sony will likely want to guard exclusivity, especially since it doesn't even allow those games on its own subscription services at launch. The PlayStation catalog is extensive, and older games are ideal candidates for porting to other systems, generating long-tail revenues and serving as a marketing vehicle for their IP and the PlayStation brand. It's easy to imagine, for example, that launching Ghost of Tsushima on Xbox and Switch 2 ahead of the release of Ghost of Yotei on PS5 would be a strategic move. While this may not happen immediately, it's a likely pattern for Sony's future strategy. The future of console software will likely be characterized by multiplatform releases, even for first-party titles, with a handful of closely guarded exclusives that define each platform. Nintendo, as always, is a different story, with its consoles serving as vehicles for its software releases and a distinct philosophy governing the relationship between hardware and software. The Sony-Microsoft rivalry, however, will be tempered by increasing codependence, with both companies relying on each other as major publishers and platform holders for their third-party publishing businesses.