Microsoft does this sort of thing from time to time. Salts the earth in an attempt to drive people to another platform. It was kind of their thing when they migrated all their Microsoft Game Studio IPs to XBox. It was kind of their thing with Halo 2 on the PC being a Windows Vista exclusive. Same with the Games for Windows initiative. The Microsoft Kin.

As to why Tomb Raider? It's probably the only big name franchise out there that's fairly close to release with a publisher who's willing to take Microsoft money. In exchange, Square is assured Tomb Raider makes X% back on development right off the bat -and- gets free XBox advertising? I guarantee you'll see XBox commercials featuring 2-3 second clips of exclusives.

*XBox noise*

*Clip of exclusive COD Map pack, which makes it seem like COD is exclusive to XBox to uninformed shoppers.*

*Clip of Tomb Raider, because people know that series.*

*Clip of Forza, because cars look pretty.*

*Clip of people watching sports on the XBox*

*Cut to Master Chief's helmet*

*Closes out on "This Holiday, only on XBox" while Halo music plays*

And funnily enough, I just googled XBox Holiday Exclusives and got this

http://news.xbox.com/2014/08/gamescom-xbox-one-gamescom-press-release

Thank God. Okay.

I need my TressFX but I'm really hoping that I can go at least one console cycle without buying 3 platforms.

@zelyre:

Something tells me you're probably a fan of Jim Sterling.

Yeah, I mean he's still a suit, I don't expect transparency from anyone in his position at any big company.

CONSOLE EXCLUSIVE IF YOU BUY IT ON A CONSOLE WOOOOOOOOO

That actually still sounds to me like this particular game is going to be exclusive to XBone.

I suspect it'll get a delayed PC release but I'd be very surprised if this appears on playstation. Quotes like "I don't own every iteration of Tomb Raider" makes me think: Yeah, but he does own this one!

The worst part of all this was the announcement from Crystal Dynamics. That letter was just so terrible and really read like, they knew they were pissing off their fans from other platforms but didn't really care because the money was too good and, hey, you still get a top down arcade shooter - which is great?!

It's one thing grabbing a new IP for console exclusives, I think we've come to terms with that in the industry. It still sucks but capitalism is as capitalism does. But grabbing an exclusive in the middle of a very well received (if slightly underselling if SquareEnix are to be believed) franchise is just such a dick move.

@drekly: He's all right. If he's done a Jimquisition on this topic, I haven't seen it yet. I don't always agree with him, but I always see where he's coming from.

I am waiting patiently for the, "One Console Future." Dennis Dyak was right all along.

Jesus, does nobody remember E3 where every other game shown by Sony carried this same bullspeak or was everyone too busy licking their own ass stink off Sony's dick.

Phil deserves some respect. Consumers should know by now these "exclusive" deals are just expensive bluffs. You can't expect the dude to complete call his own bluff nor can you expect him to make platform and release announcements for another publisher. He played it very straight forward given the circumstances.

I got called a PR astroturf yesterday....so YES!

I can't wait for Tomb Raider Revengeance, coming 2018 to Xbox 360.

The Ouya lies in wait, biding it's time.

"One day, it will all be mine" it thinks to itself.

Spring 2016 is fine by me. Uncharted will fill that need in Winter 2015. I think the timed exclusive was done specifically to address the release of Uncharted on PS4. Not a bad move.

@csl316: agreed, keep it on current gen.

Did... did he change the wording on the opening line? If not then I feel like an ass and should apologies for being a dick. I thought this was telling us nothing but it seems more like MS is getting in front of the bad press but not giving us toooooo much to latch onto but a wink wink nudge nudge that we all can understand.

I don't know I gotta agree with Brodehouse on this. I read the news myself and thought this was a timed thing. Then I saw major sites, Giant Bomb included, announce that it is in fact for keeps. So ironically I almost feel like I was misled by press whose job is to report and clarify this stuff. Did at any point someone specifically ask - "is this never coming to other platforms, does Microsoft hold exclusivity forever?" and did Crystal Dynamics or MS clearly answer yes or no? Because that is what should have happened. I assume the gaming press is smart enough to know that unless they get a definite yes or a no answer to a very specific question, then it's not something set in stone.

Just recently Sony was pulling this same exact stunt with GTA V coming to PS4 and making it look like that is the only place it's going. Get your facts straight and report on what you know, don't turn conjecture into concrete evidence. There is no place for "obviously that is what they meant" in the world of news.

Did you read the CD blog post linked in the post you quoted? They spoke very clearly and what they said is that the game is proper exclusive, and people who have enjoyed TR on PC and playstation are very important to them and are welcome to play the new top down 2d game. There's literally zero ambiguity in that statement.

@amafi: Not clearly enough.

If i judged the average opnion in the comments, then the only thing people watching youtube want is

A. for others to "Die in a fire"

or

B. "Face Cam"

I bet the game won't even be that good.

Then you should stop using Youtube to watch just Lets Plays

Exclusives are the worst. Unless it's a 1st party game it shouldn't be tied to one system. Everyone loses in these scenarios. Come on Square Enix. You recently talked about opening up the Final Fantasy franchise to the PC and then go back to exclusive deals.. Sigh D: I love you but come on..

@amafi: oh ok, didn't know there were demos out, what's MGS?

Exclusive has become a completely meaningless term. This doesn't surprise me, or probably anyone else, really. When I first saw the exclusivity announcement, I just thought, "Yeah, sure, it's exclusive for now."

probably in his best interests to be vague (despite the ethical issues), all being direct would do is give people a reason to not buy his console. Whereas if he talks around it a bit, well reporters might report the story incorrectly (as some have) due to their own incompetence/inattention could create the impression that it's a permanent exclusive which might drive some XBone purchases.

That may be true, but it of course doesn't make him any more trustworthy as a source regarding such release information. If you can't be upfront in terms of the form of exclusivity involved, whether it be timed or in perpetuity, then why should I find you as a supposed source of such information reliable?

Yeah seriously.

I somewhat doubt he wants or cares to be a trustworthy source.

He's in sales, he's not a reporter. His job is to sell a product, not be an unbiased advocate for the consumer. He's the Car Salesman, he isn't Consumer Reports. He's going to put forth his best case for why you should purchase his console and nothing else. If that means leaving out a detail or two or being intentionally vague on points, he'll probably do that. He's not going to go out of his way to help Sony in any way or undermine the investment they just made in Tomb Raider's exclusivity.

Most PR/Sales types always aim for an optimal way to tell the truth in a way that makes so they aren't technically lieing, but also usually vague enough that lets the inattentive customer believe what they want to believe.

99 cent price tags exist in this world for a reason (because there's enough people who misread 9.99 as 9 dollars instead of basically being ten). Same kind of idea. This sort of tactic is not aimed at hyper attentive and informed consumers like you and me or anybody who regularly peruses a site like Giantbomb, it's aimed at folks who are very casual purchasers (parents etc). Unfortunately it often works pretty well.

Well the jokes on Microsoft because I don't buy games until years after their release date anyway.

Video games.

Holy fuck marketing people just say what you mean the first time around and this kind of shit won't happen

Given how cagey anyone involved with this was about answering the questions of exclusivity directly, I'm not surprised this turned out to be the case. I do like how Sony straight up said what is going to be exclusive and what will be timed during their conference.

You cant really blame Patrick for reporting what was announced, sure some of the wording was flowery but it definitely said "exclusive to Xbox" so it was MS out there telling people lies to sway them into buying it on their machine. This isnt the first time they have done it either, they had an ad on Xbox live a few weeks ago claiming Assassins creed and COD where Xbox exclusives even though they had been announced for everything.

I don't know, what he's saying there very much sounds like Rise of the Tomb Raider is indeed an Xbox exclusive.

It sounds more like he's saying that doesn't mean the next game in the franchise is too.

Yeah, especially the last part about them not owning every iteration of Tomb Raider. It still sounds just as fucked as the day before.

Exactly.

See this extended quote:

"Yes, the deal has a duration," Spencer confirmed. "I didn't buy it. I don't own the franchise."

Asked if he could reveal how long the duration of the deal would last, he replied: "No. It's not because I'm trying to be a headfake on anybody. It's a deal between us and the partner.

"People ask me how much did we pay. There are certain things I'm just not going to talk about because it's a business deal between us and them. Obviously the deal does have a duration. I didn't buy the IP in perpetuity," he added.

Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a590272/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-could-be-a-timed-exclusive-after-all.html#~oMUGA2tcL6YUnb#ixzz3AMp4dPbg

Clearly talking about the IP, not the game.

I'm down for a later release with all the DLC on other platforms. Much as I loved the last Tomb Raider, I also am willing to wait for a complete game with all the content before putting my $60.00 on the counter.

I'm not surprised that the game will appear everywhere, but Microsoft playing with words is what I find very disappointing. Its one thing to make the original statement of "holiday" and such but they then went on to obfuscate and twist the news repeatedly for hours when asked to clarify. When asked to clarify they should have said, "Yes we have a timed exclusive that last to [this point], this game will be on our system first at [this time]" DONE, END OF STORY.

Stuff like, "...I'm not trying to fake anybody out in terms of where this thing is. What they do with the franchise in the long run is not mine. I don't control it. So all I can talk about is the deal I have. I don't know where else Tomb Raider goes, " is bullshit. He is trying to fake people out through obfuscation and turning things around. And, guess what? I bet he has a VERY GOOD idea what they launch date of PS4 and PS3 so why even lie about that by even mentioning it. A long twisting answer to a simple question is pretty much a bullshit answer. "We have a timed holiday exclusive time slot for the game to be on our system first..." that's it, need not say anything else.

And, yeah Phil Spencer, I get that does sound weak and worthless in your own ears. So, perhaps, that should be a wake-up call to you about your own system and what level of skulduggery you are reduced to to make it seem good.

Not that i actually care about the game. But it's this kind of unclear messaging and half truths that got Microsoft into trouble with the Xbox one. although a half truth is still better than the outright lies they told about the Kinnect in relation to the xbox one.

This seems a strategy to combat Uncharted 4. Don't want to play both at the same time anyway.

I mean, maybe I am alone but as soon as this was announced was it not Completely obvious that it was a "timed exclusive"? This is hardly the first time Sony/MS have done this.

Definitely I think there was a common expectation it's a timed exclusive but the language that was used seems to have caused some confusion - and not only that but some tweets did literally say STRAIGHT UP EXCLUSIVE and were only corrected later.

The Tweet this morning also makes it sound like it is *not ever* coming to PS4. Spencer says "similar to what we did with Dead Rising". Meaning XB1 and PC? Or PS4 included? He did say "similar" and not "the same"... Soooooo who knows!

If Phil Spencer says he doesn't know when/if the next Tomb Raider will be on PS/PC, he is either spectacularly bad at his job (since I assume he is the one signing off on these deals) or he is just plain lying. All the respect he accumulated keeping the Xbone ship afloat after pretty much hitting the iceberg in port, has gone down the drain as far as I'm concerned...

That sounds about right.

The term exclusive is fine. "Timed exclusive" and "Console exclusive" sound pretty clear to me; it's just this particular announcement that was misleading. What's interesting is that they used almost the exact same wording when they announced Dead Rising 3 and Ryse at E3 last year (it was "___ is coming this holiday, exclusive to Xbox One" instead of "___ is coming Holiday 2015, exclusive to Xbox" for TR announcement) but nobody really questioned the wording back then (probably because those two games are easier to believe as full-time exclusives for Xbox).

Microsoft PR hasn't been so great as of late but that's not too surprising given what happened last year.

Shit, I need to buy an Xbox One now...

@patrickklepek: Squeenix released a FAQ...on Tumblr of all places...addressing this. Sort of.

Rise of the Tomb Raider FAQ

Thank you for sending us your comments and questions. We looked through the posts on several channels and collected the questions you asked the most into the following FAQ.

1. What does exclusive to Xbox mean?
   It means that Rise of the Tomb Raider is coming Holiday 2015 exclusively on Xbox One and Xbox 360.
2. Does the exclusive to Xbox have a duration? Is it timed? How long is the duration? Can we expect a PlayStation 4 or PC release in the future?
   Yes, our deal with Microsoft has a duration. We aren’t discussing details of the deal, and are focused on delivering a great game on Xbox One and Xbox 360.
3. Did Crystal Dynamics know about this deal?
   Yes, Crystal Dynamics is excited to be partnering with Microsoft to make the best game possible. As Darrell mentioned in his message, we have a long history with Microsoft and they have been a very strong supporter of the franchise. They will help us grow and nurture the Tomb Raider franchise more than ever before.
4. Were the fans considered when making this decision? Are Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix aware of the franchise history with PlayStation and on PC?
   Of course. We did not make this decision lightly. Our goal is to build the best game that we possibly can, and our relationship with Microsoft will help us realize our vision for the game.
5. Why didn’t Microsoft, Square Enix or Crystal Dynamics say upfront it was a timed exclusive? Why all the indirect language?
   We certainly didn’t intend to cause any confusion with the announcement. The Microsoft Gamescom stage was a great place to make the initial announcement, but not necessarily to go into details.