It’s been an unusual generation. The idea of “true” PS5 exclusives—games that fully harness the power of the new system without also being cross-gen with PS4—has been sparse.

Let’s start with what is arguably the biggest critical success, PlayStation’s most Nintendo-like game, Astro Bot. The Game of the Year winner was indeed PS5-only and served as a love letter to PlayStation itself. Fantastic!

From there, we have two Final Fantasy titles. First up is XVI, which sparked debate over its performance and is no longer exclusive to PS5, having made its way to Xbox. Then there's FINAL FANTASY VII Rebirth, the follow-up to Remake, which originally launched on PS4, placing it in an odd position.

There’s also the Demon’s Souls remake, though naturally, it’s just that—a remake. Ratchet and Clank offered a solid showcase of PS5 technology, one that few other games matched. Returnal has gained something of a cult following but didn’t perform well commercially.

One of the more successful PS5-exclusive titles was Stellar Blade, developed by a studio and IP not even owned by Sony, though credit should go to them for recognizing its potential and making the deal happen. Helldivers 2 was a breakout hit, although it launched simultaneously on PC, where Steam became the dominant platform.

The most “major” release so far has arguably been Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which cost three times as much as the first game but wasn’t necessarily significantly better, reusing large portions of the original city and adding a character already introduced in a prior side game. Plans like a connected Spider-Verse multiplayer title were scrapped. Fortunately, there’s Ghost of Yotei, a PS5-exclusive slated for this fall. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being the best non-Astro Bot PS5 exclusive out there. Hideo Kojima could also provide a major boost with Death Stranding 2, a title Sony is fortunate to retain.

I mentioned quite a few titles, sure. But how many are truly meaningful? Take a step back and consider the full picture: this entire generation has seen no PS5-exclusive titles from Guerilla, Sony Santa Monica, or Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog, in particular, has become a running joke due to its endless stream of Last of Us remasters. They’ve announced Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, but that may not arrive until the PS6 era. We don’t even know when the next Horizon or God of War titles will surface, let alone whether those studios might branch into new IPs instead of sticking with sequels. Sony acquired Bungie during this generation for $3.6 billion, yet all they’ve done is continue developing Destiny 2 and push forward a project teetering on failure, Marathon. Neither of those titles is exclusive, certainly not to PS5.

This isn't to say there was nothing to play. But true PS5 exclusives were rare. It’s telling that one of the most significant new IPs was Stellar Blade, not even a direct Sony-developed title, merely one secured through a publishing deal. The same goes for Final Fantasy, where Square Enix seems to finally be realizing that tying themselves so closely to PlayStation may have hurt sales.

None of this is to suggest that Xbox had a stellar generation either—I've written extensively about its failing hardware sales, and the concept of an Xbox exclusive barely exists anymore. But if we’re comparing this PS5 generation to previous ones, I’d rank it fourth or even fifth in terms of impactful exclusives. Perhaps the PS6 will turn things around—whenever it finally arrives.

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