The userbase thing definitely has an impact with this right now. Games are more expensive to make, and consoles are more expensive to purchase, which leads into slower sales growth.
It makes no sense whatsoever to release a game that costs dozens of millions to a userbase of less than 2 million, and for small added cost, they can quadruple the userbase.
I too predict the downfall of third party exclusives, although I don't think it'll be as dramatic as you predict, Ben, if there is a strong winner at the end of this generation (although that remains to be seen as well).
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