There is an interesting story floating around today about a game Microsoft is refusing to support because its on other platforms. The game is question is Machinarium which was released on PC, Mac and Linux.

Machinarium is a quirky little puzzle-adventure game with a very unique art style that is unforgettable. The game features a distinct industrial vibe to it.

According to XBLAfans [via Kotaku], Czech game studio Amanita Design announced plans to bring Machinarium to different platforms (XBL, PS3, and Wii?). When asked if the developers would bring the game to XBLA, Jakub Dvorksy, founder of the studio replied that Microsoft refused the game.

According to Dvorsky, after six months of negotiations with Microsoft, the company refused the game for XBLA.

Dvorsky stated:

Microsoft just refused Machinarium for XBLA after a half year of talking with them. They like the game and know it would be very successful on their platform, but they don’t want to support games which aren’t Microsoft exclusives. Machinarium isn’t, since we’ve also released versions for Mac and Linux. We have another option to approach some big publisher to bring the game to XBLA, which is quite absurd to do and lose maybe a large part of revenue because of that.

Microsoft normally doesn’t care if a game is on a PC or Mac. However, the company does care if it is on the PS3 or PSN. Could Microsoft’s refusal of Machinarium give the competition an exclusive? I wonder if this is Microsoft’s new strategy at least for XBLA games. Interestingly enough I have noticed an uptake in exclusive XBLA and PSN games lately.

Unlike major third party published games, which could impact the console, refusing a game for XBLA is not as critical. However, employing such tactics could force smaller third party studios into staying exclusive to a particular console.

http://gamer.blorge.com/2010/04/11/microsoft-doesnt-want-games-unless-its-xbox-live-exclusive/

That sounds quite probable.

If this is true it seems like a bad business practice.

It's not true... Microsoft wont publish the fucking game... they have no problems allowing it on their service....

Looks like a cool game

I don't understand how this works - why would you need a publisher for an online game, which has its' development costs already paid for?

This article is such bullshit mainly because the author of the article is ignorant on how XBLA and PSN work.

Why would they reject a publisher which could make them money just because it wouldn't be exclusive? Makes no sense. Good thing this is just a rumor.

"We have another option to approach some big publisher to bring the game to XBLA"

they want MS to publish the thing for XBLA, not just have it on XBLA.

it's kind of like if you asked Nintendo to do a Monster hunter tri add campain for a random XBLA/PSN/Wiiware game... why would they?




this article is intentionally deceptive.

That's exactly what caught my eye as well.

It seems they wanted Microsoft to publish the game, and it's understandable that they'd refuse.

This is gamer.blorge, though, so I'm not surprised.