As we’ve seen with the streaming wars between Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and everyone else, exclusivity is king. Do you want to watch “The Mandalorian?” Subscribe to Disney+. Have an interest in seeing “CODA,” this year’s Best Picture winner at the Oscars? Get Apple TV+. That’s the way it goes and that is the way this will all continue to go until something very dramatic changes.

I think you gamers out there can see where I’m going with this, but with Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus (not to mention Nintendo Switch Online) now vying for subscribers, the notion of exclusivity in gaming is about to get more serious than it’s ever been. Yes, console exclusives have always been a thing. You can only play “The Last of Us” on PlayStation, and you can only play “Mario Kart” on Nintendo. That’s the way it goes. But this subscription service model is going to force each company to get more competitive and aggressive with exclusives to entice subscribers.

We’ve already seen the beginnings of this, with Microsoft making its massive $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this year. Once the deal closes, it will put huge franchises like “World of Warcraft” and “Call of Duty” in the hands of Xbox. One has to imagine that the folks at Sony are going to look for acquisitions and deals to make as well. More exclusivity means more tough choices for gamers to make. If you’re a die-hard Xbox guy it may become tougher to not have a PlayStation, and vice versa. Be prepared because this is the world we’re now living in.