Summary
The video game industry has always had rivalries. Even in the very earliest days of the industry, consoles found themselves locked in fierce competition over the rapidly evolving new market, such as when Nintendo would enter that ring with Sega. With thedebut of the PlayStation in 1994, the video game industry found a third major contender. Then, after Sega had to bow out,Xboxquickly took its place.
Since the early 2000s, the video game industry has largely been dominated by these three gigantic video game companies. Now,Xboxis trying desperately to break free from that cycle. Its latest plans seemingly set the stage for a partnership with Nintendo, and an idyllic future might hopefully see PlayStation entering into that partnership as well.
Nintendo and Xbox Might Be Trying to Convince PlayStation to Join The Team
Nintendo’s Latest Direct Proves It Has a Partnership With Xbox
For quite a while now, it’s felt as though a partnership between Xbox and Nintendo could be cemented at any moment. The first major signs of this came all the way back in June 2019, whenSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’sBanjo-KazooieDLCwas first announced.
Banjo and Kazooie—characters made by Rare and owned by Microsoft—coming toSmash Ultimateseemed to suggest that Xbox was happy to work alongside Nintendo, and the subsequent inclusion ofMinecraft’s Steve ensured this.
Since then, Xbox has been very open about its willingness to port first-party games over to the Nintendo Switch in the future, which has sparked no shortage of rumors over the years, with some of the most prevalent being that Xbox Game Pass would come to Switch at some point. Though these rumors never came to fruition, Nintendo’s latest Direct has confirmed that twoXbox first-party titles,PentimentandGrounded, are heading to the platform very soon.
On top of this, theNintendo Direct Partner Showcasealso revealed that a number of classic Rare games are now available as part of Nintendo Switch Online. It’s clear that Xbox is forging a new partnership with Nintendo, and while it seems pretty one-sided at this point, it does open the door for some Nintendo games on Xbox in the near future. WhileMario,Zelda,andPokemonprobably won’t be on Xbox anytime soon, some lesser-known or previously shelved Nintendo IPs could definitely make their way over in the coming years.
PlayStation Should Learn to Play Ball with Nintendo and Xbox
While it seems like Nintendo and Xbox are slowly starting to build a form of partnership, it doesn’t seem as though PlayStation has any desire to join the team, at least right now. While Xbox has made the first move, bringingSea of Thieves,Grounded,Pentiment, andHi-Fi Rushto PlayStation, it doesn’t seem as though this will be reciprocated at all.
It’s only natural that PlayStation would want to keep its big first-party money-makers exclusive to its own consoles, and yet therecent success ofHelldivers 2on PCshould show that there’s plenty of money to be made in going multiplatform. Striking up even a small partnership with Nintendo and Xbox could be mutually beneficial for all parties, especially gamers.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
