Update Ori and the Blind Forest is headed to the Nintendo Switch later this year, a move that brings the Xbox Game Studios-published title to a non-Microsoft platform for the first time.
Moon Studios’ endearing platformer Ori and the Blind Forest is headed to the Nintendo Switch later this year, a move that brings the Xbox Game Studios-published title to a non-Microsoft platform for the first time.
Specifically, Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition is due out for the Switch on September 27. Though the original 2016 game is now expanding to Nintendo’s platform, it seems that the in-development sequel Ori and the Will of the Wisps is still only headed to Xbox One and PC for now.
Xbox as of late has brought a few games and services to other platforms, such as the Nintendo Switch. Notably, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead crossed over to Switch earlier this year, bringing some of its Xbox Live features over as well.
Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty has also recently discussed the possibility of Xbox-owned studios developing multiplatform games, though he notes that non-exclusivity must make sense for each title to do so.
Update: In an email to Gamasutra, reps for Microsoft emphasized that even though some Xbox-published games have made their way to non-Xbox consoles, Xbox platforms will be the focus going forward:
"The past year has been an exciting time for us as we have more than doubled the internal creative teams making up Xbox Game Studios," the statement reads. "As these new studios transitioned in, we were aware of some existing commitments to other platforms and will honor them.
"However, going forward these new studios will focus on making games for our platforms. We have no plans to further expand our exclusive first party games to other consoles. We continue to believe deeply in cross play and progression of games with the right flexibility for developers to insure a fair and fun experience."
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