Are exclusive deals bad or good?

Tom’s Hardware is running a contest. They are giving away 3 copies of The Witcher 3 + DLC Season Pass, if people just go to the forums and answer this question:

Is VR exclusivity bad for consumers and devs, or is it a necessary part of doing business?

Here is my reply:
“Exclusive is not bad by itself, it does not have a moral axis. These are companies that are producing a piece of entertainment, both the hardware and the software. Exclusive deals break no laws and mature adults must have the responsibility of spending their money with an informed concious action for which they bare the responsibility.

It is not bad for the consumer if I want to make a game that supports Vive only. I’m just being either (a) stupid in angering some that might feel excluded, marginalizing people that might like my game but have already bought Rift, while also ignoring all who cannot spend the money to buy a VR set, or (b) resolute in my idea that this move will make me (more) money.

All “exclusive” is, is a calculated risk, which a company will take because it believes it will stand a better chance to either make a profit, or make a bigger profit than the alternative. No developer will ever say “Let’s loose money by being Rift exclusive”. What they are saying is “we make money upfront by striking a deal with them to make the game, without which we would not have ever made it”, or “we think that being exclusive to this device will make us more money”.

There is no agreeing or disagreeing with this. I do not scream at GSync for only working on NVidia cards. I do not begrudge diesel for not working on my gas car. And I regret having spent money on an HD-DVD player, but that was my fault for playing that game before a winner had been decided.

Welcome to adult responsibility! “

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