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Xbox seems confused as to whether exclusives are a good thing or not. PlayStation’s games are getting even more exclusive as it pulls away from PC. Meanwhile, Valve just released a console with no exclusives at all, and one of the engineers behind the Steam Machine has explained why that makes all the sense in the world.
Exclusives Mean Restriction, And Valve Doesn't Believe In That
Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais believes it’s as simple as letting users play as many games as possible on their platform. “Restricting where people can play a game I don’t think is a great model, at least for us,” Griffais explained to Bloomberg.
“We’re much more interested in having the whole PC catalog as our 'launch exclusive.'" The Steam Machine’s biggest selling point is, indeed, the fact that it’s a console you can use to play your Steam library, and as Griffais points out, it is a heck of a selling point.
The thing is, for some people, the Steam Machine providing access to a wide world of PC games on a console effectively means it has hundreds, if not thousands, of exclusives. If the Steam Machine is someone’s gateway to PC gaming, then it’s the only way they can play games like Peak, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft.
Steam Machine Exclusives Could Drive Away Steam's Core Audience
There is a world where Valve launched the Steam Machine with Half-Life 3 as its exclusive. Aside from not wanting to restrict its users, there is another problem for Valve when it comes to potentially locking games to its console-PC hybrid. Making Half-Life 3, or any game for that matter, a Steam Machine exclusive would mean upsetting the other 99 percent of its user base who play their Steam games on PC.
That’s where the overarching reason why the Steam Machine will never have its own exclusives comes into play. Putting a game on the Steam Machine means also putting that game on Steam. If Valve didn’t do that, a lot of PC gamers would be upset and, unlike consoles, those gamers have other options when it comes to where they can buy their games.
Steam might be the go-to storefront when it comes to PC games, but it’s not the only game in town. PC players can use the Epic Games Store, GOG, even developer and publisher websites themselves in some instances. It’s why exclusives won’t work on the Steam Machine, and it’s one of many reasons why the all-digital future PlayStation has locked in is so controversial.
People who own a PS5 don’t have the luxury of buying their digital games elsewhere if they don’t like the prices or practices on the PS Store. Their other option is buying physical games through a third party, a practice PlayStation is trying to put a stop to. With Valve doubling down on the belief that the Steam Machine will never need exclusives, despite its price tag, we may see more console gamers pick up Valve’s little cube in the future, especially if the PS6 and Xbox’s Project Helix are going to cost north of $1,000 each, which seems almost certain.
