Comment Re:No surprise (Score 1) 204
Which could well be the salvation of the Xbox One. Back in the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube generation, cross-platform development was a PITA because the three platforms were so different from each other.
However, the PS2 had an installed base way that was way larger than either of its rivals. So for a lot of small and mid-sized developers, the obvious solution was to develop only for the PS2; it would give you 90% or more of your sales anyway.
I had a friend who worked at a mid-tier developer during that time who worked on a multi-platform game. The irony was that the technical limitations of the PS2 forced compromises all over their game design; features that had to be cut or scaled down and maps whose size had to be reduced. But even though they could have made a better game for the other two platforms, the PS2 version was king, because it was going to rack up most of the sales. Meanwhile, the Gamecube version was way more trouble than it was worth; several game-functions had to be redesigned because of the lack of buttons on the Gamecube controller and that version ended up with a simpler, less flexible and less well balanced combat system as a result. Often forgotten - controller configuration matters as much for ease of porting as what's inside the console itself.
The game did just about well enough to get a sequel. They binned the Cube version and just about decided to keep the Xbox version, though it was a close-run thing. Only the PS2 version made a profit.
Last generation, the PS3 and 360 had broadly similar installed bases. Ok, there were geographic differences; the 360 was ahead in the US while the PS3 was way ahead in Japan. But by and large, both consoles had a roughly similar sized market. So unless you were being paid for exclusivity, you really needed to target both.
This time around, the PS4 is ahead in all markets and sat on at least twice the Xbox One's global installed base. If cross-platform development wasn't easy, then I could see a lot of developers deciding to cut Xbox One versions of their games, even without financial inducement from Sony.