Understand what you are saying, but exclusivity like this is neither new, nor limited to the gaming industry. The thing that Sony bought was not exclusivity for the release, but an entire window of time. And, the outline of what that deal would include was likely determined before Microsoft and Sony were asked who was going to pay more for it. No different than early access for DLC on Microsoft consoles in other deals with Activision, just on a longer timescale. Jumping back into the Tomb Raider example, that is actually an incredibly smart business move by Microsoft. I would go as far as saying it is the best move, by either side, for this generation, so far. The reason is simple - Uncharted 4. Within the Sony culture, the game is incredibly popular. It is a great franchise, in my opinion. And, Uncharted probably would not exist without Tomb Raider. Taking that game from being multiplatform to a time-limited exclusive means that Tomb Raider will, in all likelihood, be the only game of its type available for the duration of that exclusivity. As someone who is likely to by an Xbox One, given the right motivation, it is going to help me make that decision to get the console. And, I am sure that I am not the only one. :-)