I was watching a recap of the Microsoft conference for E3 and they listed Phoenix Point as title to be added to Xbox game pass.
Anyone know more about this?
I know about it. Phoenix Point will be on XBox and XBox Game Pass. What more do you need to know?
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Well I mean I don’t even know what XBOX Games Pass is. But does this mean that the game will be launching on the XBOX or just that it will “eventually” come to the XBOX? Given what happened with FiraXCOM and launching on multiple platforms I’m a bit jaded on the subject. I have no problem with it being eventually ported over but it really felt like FiraXCOM suffered from the multi-platform launch (which I think is why X2 was “PC Only” and then later ported), I don’t trust platforms, and I don’t want to see PP get hosed.
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Phoenix Point will have a XBox release at the same time as the PC. Microsoft are providing resources that allow us to work on this and deliver it without affecting the development of the PC version.
As for XBox Game Pass (and PlayStation Plus for that matter), think of it like Netflix for games. You pay a monthly subscription, and can play games from a library for as long as you continue to subscribe, or until the game is removed from the library.
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Actually it was genuine question.
I was watching the video and from nothing they say that PP will added to the game pass (which I don’t know how it is or work, until you said that is like netflix)
I was thinking that the game would be added to the Microsoft store.
And now also you said that it will be release in Xbox and that Microsoft is helping snapshot with this, something completely new to me because I didn’t know that PP would have a console release.
Anyway, thanks for clarifying in your second message.
This will also mean that Phoenix Point will be available on the Microsoft Store. We’ve said for some time that we’d like to do a console release, we just lacked the resources. This thing with MS was only confirmed and finalised very recently. We weren’t able to mention it until their E3 reveal.
Given what consoles have done in the past in regards to parity on multi-platform releases I hope things work out for you. To me a port after the initial release seems the safest way to keep the consoles at bay but maybe they’ve cleaned up their act some lately.
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Part of our agreement with Microsoft is that the game is available on the Xbox Game Pass at release. That means the Xbox version has to be released with the PC version.
As long as it’s simply “available” and no other strings (which I understand if you can’t talk about them) then it shouldn’t be too bad. The parity issue is largely believed to be what killed mod support for EU/EW (Jake had originally stated their goal for it and then suddenly dropped all talk about it and locked down even the initial minor mods for the game like removing the start up videos), plus there was that one game that AFTER launch had to tone down the PC graphics for parity reasons (luckily a mod restored the old Ultra graphics).
It’s stuff like that that worries me about multi-platform releases compared to merely porting it to console after making the game as desired on PC.
I concur, developing with consoles in mind is a problem in an of itself. Being paid by MS to do a simultaneous release is much, much worse. Not only this will add a large amount of work into the equation(which may or may not be fully covered by MS money), this may also incur any kinds of agreements PP team will have to abide to, including hardware requirements, UI/UX and possibly even gameplay features.
I am seriously concerned by this as the last thing I want is for a major console publisher having a direct influence on the design of the game which was kickstarted while being advertised as independent niche title.
As @Aknazer pointed out, releasing on a console is one thing, being paid by console vendor to have a simultaneous release is a completely different can of worms…
Microsoft has zero control or input in the development or direction of the game. Our agreement with Microsoft is to be available on their Xbox Game Pass, which means there also has to be an Xbox version of the game. We are still an independent studio. Microsoft are not our publisher. Snapshot Games retains full creative control and ownership of the intellectual property.
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Sure, legally you are independent. But from my experience, if fellow A just gave fellow B a lot of money, when fellow A later asks for a small favour, fellow B will feel obliged to indulge his benefactor. Call me a sceptic if you will, but I’ve seen a fair amount situations where money influenced relationships between parties even without any explicit obligations. Not saying PP will automatically become a “console trash”, just being concerned, tis all.
While we can’t go into details, we do of course have a written contract with Microsoft. Julian and Snapshot Games were only willing to enter into this with Snapshot Games explicitly remaining in full control of the project without outside interference.
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Just to confirm - Microsoft have no direct influence over the game design at all, and no ability to influence this financially either. The only thing we need to comply with are the technical requirements for an Xbox One release. The Microsoft contract came about because they liked our vision for the game as it is.
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I understand the cynicism and scepticism but sometimes it’s as simple as Julian says it is, and I have no reason whatsoever to doubt him. Sometimes it’s as simple as Microsoft saying, “Hey, we like your game, can we give you a bunch of money and in return we stick your game on Xbox Game Pass on release day?”. Other than Snapshot getting a brown envelope (benefits…self explanatory), this also works for Microsoft as it gives them another title which they can add to Game Pass for very little work, other than stuffing aforementioned brown envelope.
I’d only start thinking otherwise if they were on board from the beginning, which they weren’t and neither did Snapshot need Microsoft brown envelopes to finish the game (for PC).
Added: let’s all remember that this also isn’t porting of old, i.e. PC to PS3/Xbox 360. These new consoles are closer to being PC’s than they ever were and cross platform development is nowhere near the headache it used to be.
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While we can’t be too specific about the arrangement, what I can say is we definitely weren’t “onboard” from the beginning. The agreement happened within the last few weeks as the run up to E3 intensified. Microsoft want new and interesting indie titles for their Game Pass service. Developers get reimbursed (after-all, people who can play on the Game Pass are potentially lost sales). To be on Game Pass, we require an Xbox version. Brown envelope takes care of that. We have dedicated staff to work on the porting. Technical support from both Microsoft and Unity. One of our coders is even an ex-Unity developer (as in, he worked on the Unity engine).
We’re building the game on PC/Mac as intended, and that same game will make it to the Xbox. Other than some technical changes for the Xbox hardware the game is not going to change.
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This all makes total sense.
This has the added benefit of getting the game onto Xbox One/One X consoles and opens up another player base. Who knows, specifically because of this, there may one day be enough money for a bonus for the staff and a sequel for the rest of us.
<I can see @UnstableVoltage nodding in my mind’s eye…> 
To me it does not sound too bad that a big company is interested in the game and is offering support because they wa nt it to be released for their console as well.
Our concern has to do with what is called parity. It seems like you don’t know what that is so I’ll explain it for you (and anyone else who might be following but not know). Parity is where something is changed to be roughly equal with something else. In video games this has lead to graphics being lowered, features being cut, etc. Now generally this stuff is done behind closed doors which makes it rather hard to definitively prove (though when the PC version receives an update and suddenly the max graphics are caught being lowered to console max settings but a mod restores the old graphics, it’s pretty obvious what has happened regardless of what the company says). And this was the concern of some of us. That Snapshot would be forced into something that ultimately hurts the PC version of the game for the sake of the console version.
So the concern wasn’t that MS was interested in the game but rather what strings they would attach behind closed doors. What the team has put out has assuaged my concerns on the subject but hopefully this helps explain why we were worried. Also there’s been issues in the past of the PC version getting neglected (sub-par optimization, UI issues, etc) though that wasn’t one of my concerns in this case.
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In fairness, this is usually a symptom of games developed primarily for console and then ported (badly) to the PC (usually by a 3rd party developer)…[Looking at you Arkham Knight and Mortal Kombat X]