If you were hoping for another high-quality game running at 1080p and 60 frames per second to make the jump from the PlayStation 4 to the Xbox One, think again. Secret Ponchos ain't going no where.
Gaming Bolt managed to get in word with the developers at Switchblade Monkeys (and dare I say, that is one of the most kick-butt studio names out there) and they were curious as to why the developers are focusing solely on the PlayStation 4 and not the Xbox One, especially after revealing that the game would be running 1080p at 60fps.
Well, creative director Yousuf Mapara commented about the game's upcoming run on the PC and PS4, and why they're opting out of Microsoft's ID@Xbox program for Secret Ponchos, saying...
“I think it’s great Microsoft is making big steps towards supporting indie development, it creates more opportunities for all indie developers to have multiple platform options,”“In terms of our SKU plan for other consoles, we decided earlier on that we want to keep development focused on one single console platform (PS4), so we can have the best chance of creating a high quality experience.”
What's funny is that it's the classic case of quality over quantity, or in this case, a system that has no problems running games at 1080p and 60fps (so long as they aren't Watch Dogs or The Witcher 3) versus a system that has to settle for 792p.
But it wasn't necessarily about the resolution that was the deciding factor for picking one platform over the other, a lot of it was about keeping a moderate pace on the development load, with Yusuf saying...
“It is tempting shipping on multiple platforms because the sales opportunities would increase, but we felt it would risk the quality to spread our development thin trying to support too many things. We would rather focus all that development around PS4 and putting out a strong and respectable game,”
Ah, passing up greed in favor of quality. That sounds like a Nintendo move right there; that's also something AAA publishers know very little about.
Secret Ponchos is shaping up to be a sleeper hit if it can hit all the right buttons and get the right audience entertained and interested. It's prepping to make waves on the PlayStation 4 and on PC. It's also one of the many games not coming to the Xbox One.
Microsoft really needs to do an overhaul with the ID@Xbox program and start getting indie devs signed up ASAP. Hopefully, with Phil Spencer doing all these additional 180s for the Xbox One, maybe he and Chris Charla can work something out to get that parity clause removed and start bringing in the kind of games that gamers are willing to pay for and play.
