With the Xbox One and PS4 to be more than just simple games consoles, industry analysts have predicted the next-gen devices will see Microsoft and Sony battle for exclusive entertainment content.
While gaming will remain the core of the next-gen gamers, experts have suggested that, as well as duking it out over exclusive gaming content, Microsoft and Sony will be pushing for entertainment based one-upmanship, with movie, music and other multimedia exclusives all up for grabs.
“I certainly expect some multimedia exclusivity moving forward,” Fred Huet, an analyst and partner at Greenwich Consulting said speaking with TrustedReviews on the upcoming console race. The insider with a background in the tech and entertainment markets added: “Pure exclusivity, yes there will be some but it will need to be very tactical and marketing driven.”
While these content exclusives might not drive gamers to choose one console over the other outright, Huet has predicted that will become a fundamental part of both Sony and Microsoft’s marketing campaigns, with the manufacturing giants to target multimedia exclusives wisely.
Reassuring users that these exclusives will not mean mass fragmentation between devices, he stated: “The exclusive content has to be very tactical and very specific to the market they are targeting, or be used as part of core marketing alongside somebody else.
“I definitely expect some level of content exclusivity to happen, but in general both devices will offer access to a lot of platforms.” He added: “There will be access to many content platforms, it’s too expensive otherwise.”
Suggesting that Sony could have the upper hand thanks to “the backing of a major content provider within the Sony family,” the analyst speculated that although a likely occurrence, such console specific multimedia exclusives should not have too detrimental effect on owners of rival devices, with such content luxuries to be used sparingly.
“It is a little bit different to games,” Huet said. “Content providers can’t target individual exclusivity too much as it will eat into their margins and the foundation of their business.”
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
