I'm more and more convinced that companies are doing this hoping that the initial "WE ARE EXCLUSIVE" announcement is ultimately louder than the quiet follow up clarification. MS knows all too well how much traction initial impressions can have after their botched Xbox One reveal last year. The hope is that only the…

Hey Jason you might want to update the article. Eurogamer confirmed with Phil Spencer that it is indeed a "timed exclusive" and that Square/Enix is free to release it on other platforms after the deal is done. It's also coming to 360.

Great article. Thanks!

For some reason the picture for this article looks like a child holding a gun. Am I crazy? That profile shot of him makes him look like 13.

That is actually a great summary. Maybe I need to go back and play Halo 4.

Well I think that difference here is that Tomb Raider was a multiplatform game. I don't think people get nearly as angry if they know going into a series that it is console exclusive. I don't think there is anybody out there that is angry that Uncharted is still exclusive to PS4 and Halo is still exclusive to X1. We…

Well this announcement is right up your alley then! Don't get me wrong, I think Halo 1 in particular was one of the best games of all time. It came out during my third year of college and I was OBSESSED with it for an entire year. I also really enjoyed the surface level stuff we were given in the first 5 games…

I easily play my Vita more than my other systems. Tons of remote play at home and I have a huge back catalog for my on-the-go gaming.

Wouldn't it be completely awesome if Sony also announced that Rise of the Tomb Raider was "Playstation Exclusive". Then Microsoft would be like "what!? But she is our exclusive!" Then it would be super awkward for Square Enix. "Microsoft, Sony, I love you both and never meant to hurt either of you".

Great points. I think the mystery of the forerunners was more interesting to me than the actual explanations of them. Sometimes over-explanation of your biggest mystery can kill the excitement. Can't we just have a sci-fi universe that doesn't explain everything?

That's a fair point. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why MS would try to lock it down. Phil Spencer is doing exactly what he needs to do.

Interesting. Well maybe I haven't given it a fair chance. What book do you suggest I read? I read Fall of Reach, First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx. I guess I just don't care about the forerunners or whatever convoluted story there was in Halo 4. I loved Halo 1-3 3, ODST and Reach. I guess maybe I'm just ready for…

Man are people really that crazy about the Halo lore? I always found it kind of boring outside of the humans vs. covenant story. I've read 3 of the books but "Fall of Reach" was the only one that I found even remotely interesting. The direction Halo 4 went in just kinda turned me off to the franchise. Also, Master…

Yeah thank goodness that game is coming to Steam. It looks awesome.

The problem with "exclusivity" like this is that it is all essentially lies. We've all been through this strategy before. MS announces it is "only on Xbox" then we get a version for other systems 8-12 months later. Rinse and repeat. It is a terrible tactic by both Sony and MS these days that they use at every…

Amen to that. That was the messiest box art ever.

Maybe "Rise of the Tomb Raider" technically is Xbox exclusive, but "Rise of the Tomb Raider Game of the Year edition" is not.

Good point. My guess is then that it is one of those situations where MS isn't letting them announce the other platforms until it's been out for 6-8 months. Remember when Bioshock was announced as "Only on Xbox 360"? They even had a big ole' logo on the case that said it. MS does this crap all the time to make you…

Its gotta be timed. I'm sure we will get some story about how there was a misunderstanding and it's actually a timed exclusive.

I guarantee its a timed exclusive. I'm sure somebody will have to clarify this in the coming days from MS or from Square/Enix. Square/Enix is clearly building the brand on Sony platforms with recent PS+ of Tomb Raider and the release of Definitive Edition on PS4. They aren't going to throw away that fan base. It's…