In Wake of Xbox Tomb Raider News, Sony Says It Doesn't Need to Buy Exclusivity

One of the biggest stories out of Gamescom this week was Microsoft and Square Enix reaching a deal to bring Rise of the Tomb Raider "exclusively" to Xbox platforms holiday 2015. But what is competitor Sony's stance on lining up third-party exclusives? That's the question CVG put to PlayStation EU boss Jim Ryan this week at Gamescom, and he said Sony doesn't necessarily need to go out and buy exclusivity because it already has a vast network of exclusive titles and solid relationships with third-parties.

"Well, you know, we've got a very large and very powerful network of studios on our own, all of whom are working on games that will be fully exclusive to PlayStation, and we feel that this on top of partnering with third parties where it makes sense," he said. "I think the partnership we have with Activision on Destiny is a good example of where it makes really good sense for them, it makes good sense for us and it benefits our consumers--when you complement those two things we think that gives us a pretty complete position in the market."

"So do we feel the need to go out and buy outright exclusivity? Probably not," he added. "You saw [at Sony's Gamescom press conference] that before the media briefing we showed updated videos of games that we had revealed at E3. That's because we wanted to keep the show itself full of new, fresh things. We think that gave us a good, strong, convincing portfolio of exclusive stuff and we're happy with that."

Rise of the Tomb Raider's Xbox exclusivity--even if it's not going to be permanent--has irked some fans, and it's not tough to understand why. After all, 2013's Tomb Raider reboot (and its subsequent remastered version) was available on Xbox and PlayStation platforms on day one.

Explaining its partnership with Microsoft for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher said aligning with Xbox will help elevate Tomb Raider to become one of the biggest brands in gaming. He also assured PlayStation and PC gamers that they have not been forgotten.

"This doesn't mean that we're walking away from our fans who only play on PlayStation or on PC," Gallagher said on Tuesday. "Those are great systems, with great partners, and amazing communities." He pointed out that PlayStation and PC Tomb Raider fans can play Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris this December, and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition if they have not already.