Thomas Mahler, the CEO of Moon Studios and director of the Ori game series (with the upcoming game No Rest for the Wicked), voiced his opinion on a recent interview clip of Phil Spencer discussing the idea that new games should not be limited to specific platforms.
Mahler mentioned that for No Rest for the Wicked, they opted to select Private Division, under Take-Two, as the distributor instead of Microsoft, who previously distributed both Ori games. This decision was made to ensure the game’s availability on platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, as being a multiplayer and cross-play game, accessibility was deemed crucial.
He compared the situation to purchasing DVDs that can only be played on specific players, stating that buying games should not be any different. The internals of Xbox Series X and PS5 are nearly identical, with similar controllers, and porting games between consoles is no longer a significant issue. Choosing to develop games exclusively for certain platforms is viewed by Mahler as an irrational decision that limits the potential customer base.
Furthermore, Mahler noted that the console market has not seen substantial growth in the past two decades, with around 100-150 million players. To drive the growth of the gaming industry, games must be accessible to all gamers, regardless of their screen and controller preferences.
He expressed that it would not be surprising if Sony had to adopt a cross-platform game development strategy like Microsoft, while Nintendo would likely remain true to their existing approach.
TLDR: Thomas Mahler advocates for developing games across multiple platforms to maximize accessibility, criticizing exclusive platform releases for limiting the potential audience.
Leave a Comment