At this point, it’s fair to assume that any proclamation of “console exclusivity” should be taken with a whole lick of salt. The PlayStation 5 launch title Bugnax releases for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on April 28, as part of the Game Pass library, developer Young Horses announcement. It’s also getting a Nintendo Switch release. Oh, and it gets a free extension.
Bugnaxan adventure game about exploring an anthropomorphic snack island, first made waves at E3 2020 because of it contagiously catchy tune of Kero Kero Bonito in his trailer. People may have initially thought of it as a meme, but it also turned out to be a quirky puzzler with a surprisingly dark undercurrentand one really shitty ending of all time. the Bigsnax Islandwhich is a free expansion available to all players on April 28, adds a new explorable area with oversized (nax) bugs.
When he came out, Bugnax was an integral part of the PS5’s initial launch lineup, alongside first-party Sony PS5 games such as Astro’s Playroom and the Demon’s Souls remake. (Bugnax was also released simultaneously on PlayStation 4 and PC.) Sure, an errant third-party indie game coming out on a competing platform a year and a half after release doesn’t seem like Sony’s biggest ego blow, but Bugnax isn’t even the only PS5 launch title coming to Xbox this week.
To remember Godfall? Entertaining but Unmemorable Action Loot Released on PS5, Developer Decision assigned to technical constraints that prevented it from being released on PS4. (Godfall was released simultaneously on PC.) Last summer, Gearbox backported to PS4. And five days ago, it saw a full release on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
Jumping between major platforms goes both ways. the ascent, an isometric cooperative shooter, originally planned as a launch title for the Xbox Series X/S but pushed back to summer 2021, landed on PS4 and PS5 a few weeks ago. And the old nightmare factory of Bloober Team, reserved for Microsoft The waywhose dual perspective puzzles required next-gen power, came to PS5 last fall.
We’re probably in store for more. Death Loopmanufactured by Arkane, and Ghostwire: Tokyo, made by Tango, were billed as PS5 “console exclusives”. (They’re also available on PC.) Last year, Microsoft famous bought the parent company of the two studios’ parent company for a sum of Monopoly money. At the time, Microsoft mentioned it would honor any exclusivity deals in place, and so far it hasn’t announced an Xbox release date for either game, but come on. anything for feed the beast Game Passto the right?
