Epic Wanted Exclusive Rights Deals with Sony and Microsoft: Why Exclusivity is Essential for Digital Services
At some point, it would seem that the creator of Fortnite, Epic Games wanted to get Microsoft, Sony and even Nintendo’s first titles on their digital storefront. According to another released internal document from their war against Apple, it would seem that Epic were trying to gauge how likely it would be to get the first-party games from the top three console games on their storefront. It would seem that they made some steps with Sony and that they offered $200 million for up to six titles. They were awaiting a response but they sincerely doubted that Xbox would be interested as they already have a PC game pass. Phil Spencer was also meeting with Gabe Newell from the Valve team as well so that they could explore the options that were on the table.
Why is it Important to be Exclusive?
Exclusivity is super important when it comes to the world of digital streaming, purely because it is so important for digital content to be regulated. If there is no regulation with digital content, then it can be shared across hundreds of platforms in a matter of days. The original creator may also end up not being able to get any profit from this, depending on the content and how it is shared. With games however, by making them exclusive, you can then monitor the game and the money that is made from it is all run through one channel. The site hosting the exclusive game can also get way more website traffic. You quite often see exclusive games in the casino world. If you look at the Dunder online casino, you will soon see that they have a lot of games available that are not available on other sites. This helps to build trust and it also encourages people to stay loyal to a particular website.
What about Nintendo?
So now you know why it is so important that Epic are able to get the exclusive rights, it’s time to move on to Nintendo. Judging by the notes, it would seem that nothing was able to get underway with the company. Epic thought themselves that it was a moon shot or a pipedream, in their own words. A lot of this comes down to Nintendo’s history. They have labelled them as being a non-starter. When you look at the internal documents, you will see that Epic have made plans to try and bring Samus from the famous Metroid series to the Fortnite game. This is very interesting to say the least as it would help to spur on the brand, and it would solidify them as being a more exclusive network. Of course, there are many first-party Nintendo games out there, but it would be interesting to see them on the Epic Games store. Right now, it doesn’t look like this is a possibility, but you never know, things may change in the future.
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