Microsoft has revealed that they maintain an XBLA publishing policy designed to combat PSN timed exclusives. Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Microsoft’s Chris Lewis confirmed that Microsoft Game Studios will not publish XBLA titles that release first on the PSN. The company will only publish downloadable titles that arrive on their own service at the same or earlier date than that of the their competitor.
We’re a little biased, so obviously we’re going to look to protect our own space as best we can and get exclusivity.
Whilst I can’t be specific about the terms and conditions, you can be very confident we seek to maximize our own advantage to ensure the playing field is even, and certainly plays to our advantage wherever possible.
As you can also imagine, our partners have to be mindful of the relationship they have with all platform holders, and they need to be equitable. But there are contractual situations where we get agreement with different people to do different things, and through what we have available on Xbox Live, we are able to offer things other people can’t offer, that allows that exclusivity and unique elements to it that might not otherwise be available elsewhere.
Lewis would not completely rule out the possibility of this policy changing in the future, but did comment that he’d “be surprised” if that occurred. He also said that part of their motivation for the policy is to give Xbox fans what they want: the earliest possible access to downloadable games. It is his belief that they are also helping to increase healthy competition between MS and Sony. A representative from a third party publisher who wished to remain anonymous, disagrees. “They are killing any creative exposure of titles to make up for their own platform’s shortcomings,” he told Eurogamer.
On the flip side, Sony has not been nearly as averse to bringing titles that premiered on XBLA over to the PSN. Limbo is the most recent high-profile example, but it is far from the only one.
[Source: Eurogamer]
[Image via Techno Buffalo.]
