'Animal Well' Is Exploding In Popularity, But Where's The Xbox Version?

Plenty of games skip or release later on Xbox it's just something we have to deal with on this platform. I don't like it either but it's become a second class system.

Situation will only get worse with the Xbox brand being toxic and struggling to sell consoles or subscriptions.

Let's face it won't be long until there is barley any third party support due to poor sales on Xbox most games are not viable unless they go on Game Pass.

I've already decided not to bother with Xbox next gen will be getting the next Steam deck or try and set up a PC.

Prioritise your game for the systems it will sell on. Simple as that. It would be on Xbox otherwise along with every other platform. I think Gamepass has a huge part to play in games like this skipping the platform, at least at launch.

It was a day one PS Plus Extra game so it will have an exclusivity period after which it will go to Xbox and probably end up on gamepass like Humanity and Stray.

Interesting and fun game though from what I have played so far. Never thought I would enjoy controlling what is essentially a potato.

Can Microsoft perhaps buy the developer, put it on Game Pass, and then fire everyone? Just brainstorming here.

All the extra work of having to get it running on 2 consoles for the worst sales return like everything this gen, probably has something to do with it. It was a problem LONG before what happened this week.

@GeeEssEff That makes no sense when it's on everything else lol. There were 2500 Xbone games and over 5000 PS4 games last gen. "Timed exclusiveness" is NOT the reason why.

@andrewsqual ok what is the reason why then? I did reread my comment and realise I said that like Its some sort of fact…I dunno I’m just stating what I think. Worth noting that just yesterday Little kitty released on everything except PS and vampire survivors is out on everything except PS as well. If there isn’t some level of exclusivity agreement there then why aren’t they all releasing on everything?

@GeeEssEff It's like people seem to forget this type of things happens all the time and happens both ways too. There are many indie games that release on Xbox that don't come to PS until later, or sometimes not at all. It being in PS Plus Extra does indicate that there may be some sort of exclusivity period in place but it could also just be Xbox being a lower priority due to the lower install base. It could also be similar to Baldur's Gate 3 where MS didn't see it being a hit so didn't pursue any sort of deal so Sony got in there and did a deal and got priority.

@Kevw2006 Exactly there’s huge lists on both sides of timed or full exclusive indie and AA third party games but every time a half decent one doesn’t go to one of the consoles everyone pulls shocked pikachu face (same thing was happening with vampire survivors and rogue legacy 2 for PS as examples).

There’s a good chance it’s not an exclusivity deal but there does seem to be a growing pattern of games that leave PS plus after a year and head straight to gamepass or vice versa.

@GeeEssEff It could be a time-exclusivity deal but it could also just be the dev/publisher not seeing any financial incentive to bring it to XBOX.

Bringing it to another platform would probably mean more time optimizing it for said platform, testing it extensively, and paying fees to have it up on the storefront. If they don’t anticipate a lot of sales on XBOX, it might just not be worth their time and money to do so.

@Altaria_97 very true. I was trying to offer an explanation that isn’t going to further annoy an already pretty angry user base this week 😅. The “Evil Anti Consumer Sony purchased exclusivity” theory tends to go down better than the “What’s the point in porting to Xbox when it won’t sell well?” theory. I think we can all agree though we actually have absolutely no idea 🤷‍♂️

@GeeEssEff Funnily enough a few posts down on this very site there is a review for a game that has just released on game pass this week for a game that is releasing on everything apart from PS.

i expect less and less 3rd party support going into next gen and don't feel it will be worth buying the next xbox hardware.

As people have said, plenty of games just... don't have Xbox versions. They probably don't expect to make a proper return unless Microsoft puts it on Game Pass. And you'll probably see less of them since Microsoft is clearly tightening the belt and isn't being as generous with GP deals these days.

Pretty sad to see the state of the brand these days, considering how instrumental Xbox Live Arcade was in popularizing indies in the first place.

@Kooky_Geezer Same page pretty much. My PC is still better than modern consoles in several regards and does VR, but starting to show it's age. About 8 years old at this point.

Putting together a new one because I don't see Xbox lasting much longer as a console.

@andrewsqual
Exactly. Between having to developer for two SKUs and maintain feature parity on the S that is significantly less powerful, just isn't worth it for most developers for the potential return from the smallest ecosystem.

There’s plenty of indie games that are Day One on GamePass and don’t come to PS5 until later. With this being PS+ Day One, it’s just happening in reverse.

Stray is another game that started as a PS+ game and made its way over to Xbox. I’m sure this one will too.

@awp69 Plenty is a weird way of saying vast minority.

The majority of indie games will drop on Playstation or Nintendo first and come to Xbox at a later date, IF it even comes at a later date

@InterceptorAlpha “There’s plenty of indie games that are Day One on GamePass and don’t come to PS5 until later”

Reading comprehension issue there? I said there have been plenty of indie games launched as DAY ONE ON GAMEPASS, that don’t come to PS5 immediately. Not that there are plenty of indie games that don’t launch on PS5. Two totally different things.

Little Kitty Big City is a recent example.

@awp69 Practice decent reading comprehension before attempting to call one out.

I said nothing bout not coming to PS5. The only mention of PS5, and Switch, by extention, was mentioning their swathes of games that skip Xbox.

I said the "plenty of games" you described is objectively the vast minority as very few indies launch on Xbox before other platforms.

@InterceptorAlpha I’m was talking specifically about the games that launch on GamePass.

But you obviously want to make this about something different so power to you and the imaginary argument in your own mind

Feel free to continue to argue your point. I’m out since I didn’t say what you think I said.

@awp69 o7, have a nice day and keep moving those goal posts.

@InterceptorAlpha Only one moving goal posts is you. I meant exactly what I said and haven’t changed anything. You just changed what I said to what you wanted it to be. I get it. Creative licensing!

"This game is only on PS5, PC, and Switch for now." "Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down!?"

I was hoping it would be on game pass, but it went to ps+ instead. And skipped Xbox! I could have bought it with rewards points. But since it’s not here, I’ll wait and play it on something else eventually I guess. But yeah, pretty lame. Like how hard is it to port from pc to Xbox? They couldn’t spend an extra week and get more players?