Dev On Why Orcs Must Die! Unchained Is A PS4 Console Exclusive, No Xbox One Version ‘On The Radar’

Ensemble Studios used to be at the top of the world, back when they were making Age of Empires games- they were the standard bearers of the real time strategy genre, and each of their new releases induced a paradigm shift for strategy games.

[GtR35olution]

Im quite sure that selling more than twice the overall sales of their closest competitor helped a lot in that decision

[gameseveryday]

I think Sony's open ended policy towards indies since 2013 is still working for them. Although Microsoft have relaxed a lot of requirements on the indie front but what do they say..."first impression is the last impression." Having said that MS still has a good indie line up compared to the launch year.

[Rimeskeem]

I feel like MS has slight guidelines they like indie studios to follow while Sony just says screw it and has no guidelines and welcomes everyone.

This isn't how it actually is but it's what it feels like imo

[XanderZane]

The first two Orcs Must Die games are on the XBox 360. Pretty sure they will be B/C for on the XB1 if they aren't already. Don't think XBox fans are going to miss this games at all. When they are ready, Robot Ent. will port it to the XB1. Not a big deal.

[FallenAngel1984]

It's not that special a game

[ILostMyMind]

The salty is strong on you.

[ONESHOTV2]

IvanSF-- it's not i was in the beta and i own both 1&2

[BizarroUltraman]

Cant be that salty Hes a Playstation fan. So it might not be good.

[XXanderXX]

Its not salt , what was their last great game and how long has it been since it release . To be honest they haven't been that good in a long time .

[slasaru01]

No, there's hundreds of games to play on X1 including such lengthy BC games like Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, Oblivion, etc. You don't have time to play every indie crap

[FallenAngel1984]

Nah I just realized I read the title wrong. For some reason I thought it the PS4 exclusive Let it Die

[JackBNimble]

So you didn't read the article either then did you?

[SaveFerris]

A common reason for exclusivity could be that small studios do not have the resources to develop for multiple platforms simultaneously, so they choose PS4 and/or PC, or Xbox One and/or PC.

[Yohshida]

So why not make a game with UWP in mind? Make the game once and release it on Windows 10 and Xbox One. If we go by your logic.

Most of the time Sony pays even smaller devs for exclusivity. I had a nice talk with one of the devs from Tricky Towers at games com and he said Sony has a half year exclusive deal with them and its a really small game.

[ILostMyMind]

Because developing for PS is more lucrative.

[SaveFerris]

If Sony is supporting them financially then it makes sense, but then I'm sure MS is just as likely to make similar offers to developers in order to have them sign up.

[Yohshida]

@IvanSF

Is it? On PS4 you have 50 million potential buyers, while with UWP you have 500 million. Especially for those smaller games that can run on almost every PC, it would make much more sense. But if they signed up a deal, they should just say it.

[game4funz]

My thoughts exactly...
If the dev is small then the price for exclusivity is small too... Especially since most of these indies have only been temporary exclusives.

[yomfweeee]

UWP LOL. Microsoft's failed attempt to take on Steam.

[Yohshida]

@yomfweeee

What does UWP have to do with steam? You make an app for Windows and can easily port it over to the Xbox One or Windows Phone = 3 Apps with one Code.

I think you mean the Shop built in Win 10. So MS is not allowed to have their own shop just because you think steam is better? I still remember the early days of steam when everybody hated them. Still today its not a good experience. You can't trade your games and the customer service is beyond horrible. The win 10 store is still new and gets better with time. You buy a game once and get the console version for free plus cross play and cross save. Isn't this something good?

[mkis007]

Videogamelab

Because even with those extra potentials, the ps4 version outsells both combined.

I was reading an article on gaming revenue for november and is disclosed a shocking number for pc software. It was around 40 million dollars. Console software? Over 900 million (last year over a billion). Pc software doesn't move as fast as console software.

[Yohshida]

@mkis007

This was based on physical sales, which no-one does at the PC side. You can't track down Digital anyway. PC digital sales are probably at 95-98%

[Phill-Spencer]

Videogamelab

And 500 million potential pirates.......

[UntrainedN00B01]

They are likely still bitter about MS closing Ensemble studios

[Dragonscale]

Don't blame them. Once bitten twice shy.

[ONESHOTV2]

i have both 1&2 on steam and was in the beta for unchained but i see this as a bad move why limit your self to only on console. let me guess becuase the PS4 is selling more ? lol i think i hit the nail on the head but still that is retarded becuase you dont know how many people is going to buy the game on the PS4 so why not do it safe and release it on both. final note unchained is trash buy 1&2 on steam for cheap or go to G2A for a cheaper copy

[Angeljuice]

It isn't a mindless shooter........it would flop on XB1.
That is a perfectly legitimate reason, why bother if you have limited resources?

Would you spend time and money localising an XB1 game for the Japanese market? No you wouldn't because it wouldn't be worth the effort.

As a small studio they target their audience carefully.

[ONESHOTV2]

no a smart move would be to just put it on the windows store so they can keep it on PC and support the xone as well

[lastking95]

What mindless shooter has ever been a success? Besides overwatch lol

[Lennoxb63]

It isn't a soap opera.......it would flop on PS4.

[BizarroUltraman]

Why would I want to make a game for the company that disbanded my studio? Plus many idie devs or devs in general just like working with Sony better. Seems like working with MS is a bit tedious..

[Yohshida]

Every story has 2 sides my friend.

[BizarroUltraman]

Hey I was a Xbox owner til two days ago. I just feel like throughout Xbox history there have been studio closings or developer breakups. Also there were also devs not happy with MS idie clauses and things like that.

[Yohshida]

You can't please everyone. For matter of fact, MS were the first in the console space to have a great indie support during the 360 days.

Im still pissed at them for closing down lionhead studios. I just want to play Fable 4....

[XXanderXX]

Disbanded cause they weren't doing anything but costing resources .

Studios closing happen on both sides of the fence , so please re-frame from acting like that other platform hasn't closed a few studios. As for the Clause they were making sure we Xbox fans weren't treated like second class consumer or used when a studio need a quick influx of cash.

[XXanderXX]

That's okay not a really interesting game to begin with , so thank you for helping me save my money instead of me wasting money on a game that probably would have been broken. .

[Angeljuice]

So you buy games that you aren't interested in just because they release on your system?

Let's hope they don't release it on XB1 later or they'll force you to waste money on something you don't like, the bastards.

[KingAlistair]

Ensemble Studios,my all time favorites.The only studio along with old Bioware to give more than 30$ for their games.Age of mythology and Aoe ii,i must have played over 20.000 hours together.

[Ulf]

Umm.. Orcs Must Die! is a tower defense game, made by Robot Entertainment, and it came out first on the Xbox 360. It was free on XBL Gold, because yeah.. it didn't sell well when it wasn't free.

Unchained is it's free-to-play sequel, also made by Robot, and it's target platform is really mobile devices, not Sony platforms. It's console exclusive because Sony pays for it to be, not because Robot wants it to be. The "I wouldn't work with Microsoft again" comment in the article is authored by the journalist, not by Robot.

The article title is actually a lie -- the dev explains why they like Sony as partners, and NOT why they are not also on Xbox One, only that they currently aren't. This article is a pretty clear trolling/clickbait attempt. I fell for it -- don't repeat my mistake. It should never have been approved, given the outright lie that is the title.

[chuckyj1]

Who cares it's a console exclusive and it's Orcs must die... So if X1 fans really want to play it... they can pick it up on PC... Who gives a crap?