But the detour along the way was an intriguing one? More Steam insights? More Steam insights…Īlthough this is the second time we’ve returned to this (sorry!), a recent Gamasutra blog from Mason Remaley delves into the recent GamePlaySpace Q&A with the Steam team.Īlthough we previously covered this Q&A in some detail, the notes here are additionally useful in a couple of places I’d like to highlight, as follows: Although Cuphead just turned up on PlayStation in July, so I don’t know what to think about that!) Actually, the Kotaku interview digs into this idea of not needing multiple platforms with regard to Xbox’s recent Bethesda acquisition, with Spencer commenting: “I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us.”Īnd in general, all Microsoft roads now lead to Game Pass. In conclusion, it seems unlikely we’ll see more non-Minecraft titles from Microsoft on Switch. After linking with their Microsoft account, the players in-game name will be their chosen Xbox Live Gamertag (note: You must link your Nintendo account with a Microsoft account if you wish to play online).” Argh… For example: “Nintendo Switch uses a player’s Nintendo Nickname before they link their Microsoft account. (Though that hasn’t stopped hundreds of thousands of people from buying it on Steam !)īut clearly, although Nintendo has come along for part of the ride, ( requiring a Microsoft logon for multiplayer on Minecraft Dungeons on Switch, for example, with Xbox achievements working ), full Xbox ecosystem integration isn’t happening on Switch in the near - or even far - future.Īfter all, this cross-OS stuff just turns into UI/code spaghetti with multiple partners. So you can clearly see the advantages of getting 6 months of ‘Xbox Game Pass for PC’ for the cost of buying Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam. A good example is them signing with physical/digital retailer GameStop to “share in the lifetime digital sales revenue - including for full game downloads, DLC, and subscription plans - for any Xbox console sold through its stores.”Īnd when it comes to Steam on PC, Xbox Game Studios has started publishing even more content there recentl y - partly because people can subscribe to PC Game Pass (or Game Pass Ultimate) using the same computer. What’s interesting here is that Microsoft is clearly now open to unconventional ‘ecosystem partners’. (Actually makes me wonder if the Switch port of the Ori sequel, which just got published via iam8bit, was originally asked for at one point by Microsoft.) But it didn’t happen, and now Microsoft is backing away. And perhaps Microsoft was hoping or was even promised that Nintendo would open up its platform even further, maybe even to xCloud or Game Pass. So this is a little piecemeal and, as noted, ‘cosmetic’. It feels very cosmetic, just Microsoft Studios making sure I don’t forget where the game came from, as if I could forget.” (And the cross-platform achievements later broke/got flaky. However, as Kotaku’s Mike Fahey commented at the time of release: “Though it does connect to my Microsoft account, Ori Switch achievements don’t show up on my feed. These are Xbox-exclusive portfolio titles - why would Microsoft do this?īut now it’s late 2020, and this excellent Kotaku interview with Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer added a little flavor to the current state of the Microsoft/Switch crossover: And then came Ori & The Blind Forest, announced in August 2019 and debuting in September 2019. And it’s also not incredibly eye-opening that franchise extensions like Minecraft Dungeons end up debuting on PlayStation 4 and Switch as well as Xbox and PC.īut I was legitimately surprised when the Microsoft Game Studios-published Cuphead (which was funded extensively to completion by Xbox) ended up getting released on Nintendo Switch in April 2019. It’s not surprising that Minecraft continues to get updated for pretty much all platforms. It may not have escaped your knowledge that - besides Minecraft, which already had a multiplatform strategy and roll-out when Microsoft bought the game back in 2014 - other Xbox Game Studios games have been popping up on other console platforms.
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