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Can home consoles continue to be viable with no third party publisher support?

12Danny123

12Danny123

Member
Jan 31, 2018
1,722
Acquisitions have been a BIG theme from 2020 and industry experts and insiders are saying that acquisitions at small and large publishers will continue to happen during the generation. The question I have is, can a console continue to be a viable option without third parties? Microsoft and Sony rely heavily on third-party publishers for their revenue and profit, so publishers being acquired or leaving the console market will be a disaster for their revenue and profit, especially if the publisher leave the console market and focus on Cloud gaming.

This does seem like an extreme scenario but it's a possibility that this happens in the future.
 
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LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,370
No.

Even Nintendo suffers when third parties don't show up at all. Sony and Microsoft would be ruined by it if they left permanently.
 

Deleted member 1839

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,625
Considering that some of most popular games on console are third party stuff like COD, Ubisoft, Rockstar, EA sports games, etc..... I'd say not.

Nintendo probably has the strongest chance out of the three and that hasn't worked out for them either.
 
Damaniel

Damaniel

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,536
Portland, OR
Nintendo would have the best chance. Sony might survive but I'd lean toward not. Microsoft wouldn't - they have lots of studios but not the kind of output that could singlehandedly sustain a console.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,524
Ibis Island
I'm going to say "Technically" they could. But the entire gaming landscape would change drastically to accommodate in this scenario. We'd be buying these systems and likely getting far smaller experiences across the board (With 1st party feeling in the voids for stuff like COD/Madden with their own attempts).

The key factor would be if ALL consoles were devoid of third party and only had what they bought. If the scenario is "Well Xbox/PS wouldn't have third party but Nintendo does" it wouldn't work.

Regardless, the idea presented here is pretty dystopian. Big Corps owning all gaming entertainment and no PC as the middle-man. Terrible.
It's why as a whole, I think as it stands having the current 3 plus PC gives us the best opportunity as consumers.
 
Rizific

Rizific

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,953
they already arent viable to me for 3rd party games. exclusives are THE reason i own consoles.
 
Cats_Schrodinger

Cats_Schrodinger

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,009
I don't really understand the question I guess.

If publishers are acquired by the console manufacturers, they will have a large part of the then third-party library. Problems can occur if one side gets most of them, but right now even MS doesn't have that kind of money or will. Sony will suffer most likely, as MS has definitely has more resources but even with that they couldn't shift the balance too much without hitting antitrust first or simply their own limen. You would have to spend insane amount to do that.

PC would suffer the most, but with the new MS centering around GamePass and unifying things even that is not a real problem. Long-term I can that this could mean trouble for Sony but not in the next 7 years.
 

NuclearCake

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
9,867
I don't think there exist consoles that are successful and did not have good third party support. Third-party support is essential.
 
SpaceCrystal

SpaceCrystal

Banned
Apr 1, 2019
7,714
Absolutely not. Heck, neither Sony or Microsoft would've made it this far into the gaming industry if they didn't have the huge 3rd party support that they had from the beginning, especially when most of their 1st/2nd party exclusives weren't actual system sellers like Nintendo's 1st/2nd party games were, save for Halo before 343i took over the IP for MS. Or something like Gran Turismo for Sony.
 
SpaceCrystal

SpaceCrystal

Banned
Apr 1, 2019
7,714
9-Volt said:
Are you being serious? Both had tremendous amount of third party support. In fact, Switch might be the Nintendo console with the best third party support in the end.
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I feel that Nintendo has gotten decent 3rd party support with the Switch since the NES & SNES (not counting their handhelds).

GameCube did get some good hitters as well, but not a lot with the three consoles that I've mentioned.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,370
SpaceCrystal said:
I feel that Nintendo has gotten decent 3rd party support with the Switch since the NES & SNES (not counting their handhelds).

GameCube did get some good hitters as well, but not a lot with the three consoles that I've mentioned.
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Well, bluntly, you're wrong.

The Wii and the Switch have some of the strongest third party support Nintendo has ever had. They're certainly leagues ahead of the GameCube.
 
z0m3le

z0m3le

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,418
LinkStrikesBack said:
No.

Even Nintendo suffers when third parties don't show up at all. Sony and Microsoft would be ruined by it if they left permanently.
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Nintendo probably could, now that they have just one platform to release titles on. Along with indie games, I actually don't think they need much in the way of 3rd party, but 3rd parties are nice to have of course and they seem to be making money on Nintendo's platforms.

Nintendo could use with some more expansion though, if they had a second publisher arm able to produce games like Rare did for them back in the 90s. That would be ideal.

Microsoft probably is close to big enough as well, especially if they can pick up a couple smaller studios.

Sony definitely isn't there, but any 3rd party knows to focus on Sony first, which seems to help.
 
Djalminha

Djalminha

Alt-Account
Banned
Sep 22, 2020
2,103
Indies are slowly replacing them. Some of the most popular games this gen included things like Rocket League, PUBG, Among Us... If they leave a hole in the market, worry not, others will fill that whole. Then they'll be acquired too, someone else will show up, and eventually we'll all belong to a corporation, but console games will be fine.
 
Cactuar

Cactuar

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
5,878
A first party game was actually the highest selling game on the original PlayStation (Gran Turismo), but that was the last time a first party game sold the most on any PS.

It's no secret a major part of Sony's success is due to their unprecedented third party support.
 
Delusibeta

Delusibeta

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,648
mentok15 said:
Nintendo maybe. No chance for MS or Sony.
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Yeah, I agree with this. Right now, Nintendo's first party has release multiple games that are consistently selling for the foreseeable future, and even Sony's first party can't compete over an extended period, never mind Microsoft. Situation may change in the future, but right now in a theoretical future where all third parties boycott all consoles, Nintendo would be the only platform holder that I can see surviving.
 
Soapbox Killer

Soapbox Killer

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,149
Does Indie count as Third Party?

All I buy is Nintendo games and Indies. I might buy a big AAA game once in a blue but Switch/ Xbox Gamepass is where I have been good with.
 
IIFloodyII

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,993
Without the FIFAs, CoDs, GTAs alone I don't think they could consistently, every 3rd party I don't think there's a chance, their 30% is by far the biggest money maker. And as we see with Nintendo where they can flip-flop all over the place gen to gen, the twins would be hit far harder than Nintendo was, given for 10s of millions they are just CoD/FIFA/GTA boxes.
 

Deleted member 8752

User requested account closure
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Oct 26, 2017
10,122
Depends on what you mean by viable. If it's a niche thing, like SNK or Sega releasing its own console for its own games, or a mini console that you can download titles to, it could be viable as a collectors item. But not if you're talking about competing with Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,372
It's kinda hard to say because there being no third parties left because they were all acquired by the platform holders (I think that is your hypothetical?) would mean that first party support would be INSANE and unlike anything we currently have.

I think, if all developers in the world were under the umbrella of the platform holders then, yeah, probably. It'd be largely the same as now, you'd just (even more than now) have to buy all of the hardware if you wanted access to everything.
 
Blayde

Blayde

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,690
Kentucky
Microsoft/Sony buying publishers/devs doesn't necessarily mean less games though right? I suppose if one of them were to buy up all the third parties so that the other has significantly less games coming out on their console that would be a problem for one of them. I doubt that Sony would just sit by while Microsoft buys every single third party though. What it probably means is less flexibility for us when choosing a console. We wouldn't be able to choose playstation and be confident that we still will get 90% of all games released for example. We would either be buying both consoles or just missing out on more games. So i dont think 'third party' going away would be bad for either of them unless they somehow get into a situation where one of them has bought out nearly all the third parties leaving nothing left for the other.
 

Celine

Member
Oct 26, 2017
5,030
A PlayStation console without (or with soft) third-party support has no reason to exists, see PlayStation Vita for reference.
Nintendo is different, it tries to create its own uncontested market through their unique hardware and software integration based solely on their own strength (if successful it attract more and more external companies to support their platforms).

That said it's impossible to acquire every third-party publishers/developers in the world.
The real risk Sony could incur in the future is if digital platforms disrupt how third-party content is primarily consumed.
If that event really happens Sony would find itself in a weak position because they still rely on the idea that all the PlayStation world rotates around a PlayStation box and is the de facto standard on how deliver third-party content while Microsoft, Google, Amazon believes that in the not so distant future the standard how gaming content is going to be delivered will pass through hardware agnostic digital platforms.
 
9-Volt

9-Volt

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,884
ehluigi said:
I'd still say SNES, system had everything and not just inferior ports.
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Eh. I owned SNES back then and played hundereds of games through renting and trading. I can safely say this much: SNES had awful lot of low quality software, you have to stick to the most popular stuff if you want to have some good time. Most of the licensed stuff were straight up garbage. I'd gladly take Switch's inferior ports over SNES's shovelware.
 
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