PlayStation recently unveiled two Director's Cut editions of big first-party titles, Death Stranding and Ghost of Tsushima. While the Japanese publisher is by no means the first to introduce the concept of Director's Cut in gaming, its stature definitely makes the move noticeable. Thus, these games will likely contribute toward Director's Cuts becoming more popular. Xbox should take cues from Sony in this space, since the platform should be receiving a couple of first-party games - Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo - after the expiration of timed exclusivity deals. There are a number of reasons as to why the Director's Cut approach might be the best.

While there has been contention surrounding paid upgrades for next-gen improvements to the core experience, the concept of Director's Cut games seems intriguing. It's one that suits itself to a number of titles, and is arguably more compelling than a standard re-release.

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A Director's Cut represents the director's artistic vision with respect to movies, however that doesn't translate directly into video games. Renown developer Hideo Kojima argued how "Director's Cut" isn't the right term here, as instead of editing the contents of the product the process entails (mostly) adding previously cut content.

This makes it obvious as to why the Director's Cut looks like a better offering than a re-release, since it should also include all of the post-launch content alongside brand-new content. Of course, nothing is set in stone when it comes to such terminology, but that seems to be a good baseline moving forward.

Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo are being developed by Arkane and Tango Gameworks respectively, both of which now fall under the Xbox Game Studios banner. Given that Starfield is confirmed to be an Xbox exclusive, it's likely that future projects from the two studios would also follow the same tradition. Xbox would likely prefer both studios to immediately start firing on all cylinders for the next big first-party studio, instead of continuing to provide post-launch support for PS5-exclusive games.

Furthermore, both of these games have had a rocky development cycle with the COVID-19 pandemic. Deathloop has been delayed twice because of the pandemic and is now releasing this September. Xbox would likely want the studio to pursue a new exclusive project, although not much evidence is present to back that sentiment. In addition to this, Arkane Austin would could require assistance from the Deathloop studio in order to release Redfall in time for its summer 2022 release window.

Ghostwire: Tokyo also suffered from the same development problems. Developer Tango Gameworks has renown personalities such as Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Thus, it would make sense that Xbox would want its studio to get done with the project as soon as possible, and start working on the next big exclusive.

While a lot of the previously highlighted concerns can probably be dismissed off as far-sighted speculation, there is no arguing that a Director's Cut is a great option to incentivize replaying these games. Deathloop enjoys the luxury of being highly replayable by design, but the same can't be said for Ghostwire: Tokyo - at least for now. Re-releasing the game with additional content is a great way to nudge players into revisiting these worlds on a new platform, possibly with a number of quality-of-life and fan-requested improvements as well.

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Microsoft has hit its stride with its revolutionary Xbox Game Pass service, allowing a massive population of gamers on a tight budget to indulge in games in larger numbers across a multitude of genres. However, Microsoft's decision to bring its first-party library to the service at launch makes it a standout among a whole host of other subscription-based services.

Thus, it's almost a given at this point that Bethesda's PS5 exclusive games will find their way onto the service at launch. It's known that Deathloop's exclusivity ends in September 2022, and so could Ghostwire: Tokyo's. The biggest point of contention surrounding the Director's Cut is the precedent Sony has set, which entails paying for access to next-gen upgrades.

Thankfully, Xbox can avoid that round of controversies thanks to Xbox Game Pass. Allowing all subscribers access to its first-party titles without incurring additional costs will undoubtedly help alleviate any issues. Furthermore, Xbox's Smart Delivery system is known to be a lot more developer-friendly than Sony's implementation for cross-gen upgrades.

It's also a great way to test the waters in this regard, as many Xbox fans will undoubtedly try these games at launch. Xbox has many studios under its belt, with a plethora of valuable IPs that could benefit a lot from the trend going forward. Given that its platform is backed by the consumer-friendly Game Pass that alleviates any concerns stemming from seemingly predatory practices, many games are ripe for such a conversion - both old and new.

Games like Halo 2 have a long history of cut content that could be bought back to life with the Director's Cut trend. While this example isn't so helpful in that regard, as fans already have had Halo 2: Anniversary for years now, it showcases the potential of the trend breathing new life into the games fans love so dearly.

Deathloop releases on September 14, 2021, for PC and PS5.

Ghostwire: Tokyo will launch in early 2022 for PC and PS5.

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