Destiny 2 will have exclusive content for the PS4. When this will come to Xbox One is still uncertain – as there is only a “minimum” indication.
Sony and Activision go hand in hand when it comes to Destiny 2. The Japanese corporation managed to secure the exclusive deal for the upcoming MMO shooter, just like for Destiny 1. To the dismay of Xbox players.
Such marketing deals are common in the gaming industry nowadays. While Microsoft and Xbox partner with The Division or FIFA 17, PlayStation is the first platform for Destiny or CoD. Players might get upset about this. But with exclusive deals, there is a lot of money at play.
Many players have already accepted that PS4 guardians will also be favored in Destiny 2 with bonus content. However, a new discussion on Reddit has flared up regarding time exclusivity: it is not being complained about the fact that there is one, but about how it is communicated. Namely, not at all transparent and player-friendly.
Time exclusive content until “at least autumn 2016” is still not in the game
PS-exclusive content was introduced in the game with The Taken King in September 2015, which was supposed to remain exclusive until “at least autumn 2016”. Xbox guardians were not particularly happy about this, but at least they had a target in mind for when they would receive the exclusive strike, weapons, and maps. The exclusive content from year 1 eventually became available to all guardians with the dawn of year 2.
After a year of patiently waiting, the nasty surprise came: exclusivity was extended indefinitely. Activision had initially indicated “minimum autumn 2016″, but no one really expected that the content would actually remain locked for Xbox players for more than a year.
Today is May 9, 2017. On the official PS page, it still states “time exclusive until at least autumn 2016”. And there is still no information on when the content will come to Microsoft’s console.
From “at least” to “at most”, players demand
For Destiny 2, Activision and Sony are employing the same strategy again: On the Destiny page , it is indicated that bonus content will appear first on PS4, which is time exclusive until at least autumn 2018. What content this will be is still unknown. We can expect more information in the summer.
On Reddit, there are now demands for the responsible parties to be more precise with such time indications – or to just save themselves the trouble and write “for an indefinite period”. Because otherwise, guardians will once again look forward to a date, only to be bitterly disappointed. A “minimum” indication is neither transparent nor in the interest of the players.
Exclusive deals are all well and good – but players should be openly informed about how long they have to wait for the content. Other games manage this as well. A “maximum until” indication would be much more transparent than a “minimum until” indication.
Whether Sony and Activision will make more concrete statements about this in the future remains unlikely. After all, a “minimum” ensures better protection in case of date shifts than a specific date.
Perhaps the contract states that the time exclusivity for the content from “The Taken King” cannot be lifted until the release of Destiny 2 – and this release has been postponed from 2016 to 2017…
But as an outsider, unfortunately, one cannot look into the exact agreements of these exclusive deals.
By the way: It is still unknown whether only Xbox players or also PC players will have to wait for the PS4 exclusive content. However, we know that there will be PC-specific features. What these could be, we speculate in the provided link.
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