A short while ago it was reported that the highly anticipated indie survival game, Routine, could be making its way to the PlayStation 4 once the PC version is complete... maybe. However, the obvious omission of the Xbox One left many to question exactly why the game could be coming to the PS4 and not the Xbox One?
Gaming Bolt managed to get in word with Lunar Software's artist and designer, Aaron Foster, where they asked him about porting the game to the new generation consoles. Foster stated that...
“We have been working on Routine for quite a while now and may just need time to rest once we release. We do love the guys over at Sony, they have been great with us and we would love to release on PS4 if we have the energy to pull that off to a good standard.”
In the original article we threw out some speculation that the game, Routine, may skip the Xbox One due to Microsoft's former policies, even though the company did retract some restrictions regarding self-publishing for the Xbox One.
Funnily enough, those policies (attached to the grander scheme of Microsoft's DRM plans) happened to be the very thing that pushed Lunar Software right into the arms of Sony. Without explicitly throwing Microsoft under the bus, Foster simply stated...
“We are PC games and developers at heart, so for us to even think about doing a console release is strange enough in itself. If we did finally decide on doing a console version we would like to support Sony for all the great things they are doing to support our industry,”
This is definitely the sort of thing that's coming back to bite Microsoft on the butt.
A lot of those highly anticipated games that aren't coming from AAA publishers happen to be indie titles, and Microsoft – despite having 32 different indie studios signed on with ID@Xbox – managed to piss off a ton of people (developers included) with not only their bid to control the used game market with their Azure licensing fees, but also with their stranglehold on content curation for indie devs.
It's funny because what the big publishers wanted from Microsoft (used game fees) and what Microsoft wanted to do (a locked-down digital ecosystem) directly conflicted with majority of gamer interest and non-AAA developer interest. Keeping in mind that indie studios and gamers make up for the core of the gaming industry, it looks somewhat shortsighted on Microsoft's part that they would try to pull a fast one over on both groups.
Nevertheless, Microsoft is definitely reaping what they sowed. Their sales have slowed since launch and they're now putting a lot of eggs in the Titanfall basket to help recover some momentum. In the meantime, Sony is reaping lots of benefits from being pro-gamer, pro-industry and pro-developer by continually reaching out to smaller studios, like Lunar Software, and welcoming them and their non-AAA project(s) with open arms.
I can't wait to see what Routine looks like in its finished form and I'm sure a lot of PlayStation owners are excited to know that a game like Routine could be arriving for the PS4 at some point.
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