All of the Lara Croft game case-thumpers went NUTS yesterday when they saw that the proper sequel to 2013’s Tomb Raider was going to be exclusive to Xbox One — at least for quite a few months. There was a whole new level of rage on the internet, one I’ve never seen before. All the little Sony fans and PC players quickly rallied to their best friend change.org to try and change gigantic corporate entities’ minds via some silly digitally signed documents, even. Needless to say, Crystal Dynamics caused quite the stir of controversy.
This means a few things, which I will dissect here. For one, it means Microsoft is stepping up their game (pun completely intended), and really making Xbox One a must-own on top of other great exclusives like Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break and the well-received Forza and Halo series. Rise of the Tomb Raider just seals the deal.
On the other hand, this is a HIDEOUS move for Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix. They’ve just effectively alienated a large percentage of their fanbase, and when they go back to being multiplatform….. well, let’s just say that it might be more economically feasible for them to just keep Tomb Raider as an Xbox One exclusive in the future (this might just be what ends up happening because of how hurt the Playstation and PC players feel).
Lastly, it means that you, the average gamer, will either kneel to their demands and fork over hundreds of dollars for a console just to play the sequel to How I Met Katniss’ Mother, or you miss out on the game and fume angrily on the internet with stupid change.org petitions that will be promptly ignored until the limited exclusivity timer is up OR until the day you die if Microsoft actually intends to keep it eternally exclusive.
Since I didn’t really care for 2013’s Tomb Raider, I don’t get the fuss. Buuuuut, I will say, you can’t honestly blame Microsoft. They just fronted the boku bucks with an offer attached — Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix were the ones that accepted the offer and embraced it.
Robert's Interstellar Soapbox 
Reblogged this on Bobbi's Blog.