Millions of PS4 players were eagerly waiting yesterday for some info on the PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and whether we’ll be getting it for PS4. However during Microsoft’s Gamescom press event yesterday we didn’t hear much on this topic. We’ve seen some new trailers for old games and few newcomers. It seems like one of the debuts was the Jurassic Park RTS which comes from the creators of Elite: Dangerous.
Of course, that’s not what we’ve tuned in for. PlayerUknown’s Battlegrounds is the name of the game, and it proved to be a real hit on PC. Microsoft also announced that it is coming to Xbox One for its console debut but what about PS4? During Gamescom, Microsoft revealed that they would be acting as publishers for the Xbox One version of the title which means that they would go in and invest their assets and manpower into this game.
Unfortunately for PS4 fans, it is still a mystery whether we’ll see PUBG on their beloved console. We don’t know whether it will be exclusive for Xbox One consoles or whether it will eventually arrive for PS4. The current state of things clearly says that the Xbox will be the only console home of the game.
It seems like neither Bluehole nor Microsoft wants to make this clear, however, we have an official statement. Microsoft decided to shed some light on the issue after numerous questions coming from the press.
‘As we announced at E3, “PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS” will be a console launch exclusive on Xbox One and right now, the development team is solely focused on bringing the best game possible on Xbox One and PC. We have nothing further to announce at this time.’
When it comes to Bluehole, there has been an interview with the IGN’s Destin Legarie. A Bluehole representative shed some light on the partnership with Microsoft. ‘This partnership is about allowing our dev team to solely focus on Xbox & PC development and bring PUBG to Xbox players faster.’ He further went on to explain how Microsoft won’t act as publisher for any other console release should that ever be in store.
All of this makes our heads hurt, and it is rather tiresome and confusing. We all remember when Microsoft made a deal to be the ‘exclusive’ home to Rise of the Tomb Raider where it acted as publisher. However, later it turned out that it was only a matter of time when the game would make it to the PlayStation console.
We believe that Microsoft is trying to do the same thing here with PUBG. Why? Well, it seems like both Bluehole and Microsoft avoid talking about this issue and it appears that they are doing it on purpose. It looks as if they don’t even want to entertain the idea of PUBG coming to PS4. On the other hand, we don’t know if Microsoft is maybe negotiating with Sony about the release. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft splashed out and made this partnership deal permanent. That would be a considerable kick in Sony’s teeth. What good does the PS4 do if some of the best titles aren’t available on it? It may indeed be a better console but what good does it do if we can’t play our favorite game on it.
We believe that Bluehole and Microsoft will continue avoiding these questions until it finally turns out that this is a timed exclusivity deal. Of course, that would be possible only if Microsoft doesn’t acquire Bluehole. If that happens, there won’t be a release of the PUBG for PS4 anytime soon(never). That is not all as there has been the case of Minecraft when Microsoft acquired Mojang but later made the title available on other platforms. Of course, Minecraft wasn’t followed by this kind of hype so we believe that Microsoft won’t repeat itself when it comes to PUBG should they acquire Bluehole. All in all, we do think that somehow PUBG will find its way to PS4. The only thing that we are not certain of is the timing. We believe that this won’t happen at least for one more year.
We don’t know whether it is good that Microsoft is making these strange partnerships and we aren’t sure whether that’s fair towards other platforms. Maybe they are doing it because they lack their own exclusives, maybe they are doing it because Sony made a better console. We can only speculate about this, but these few came to our mind instantly. It isn’t such a bad deal when you look at it really. Someone else makes a good game, you come in and splash out, get the exclusive and onward you go. You’ve got the bragging rights, and you have the leverage to negotiate whether you will allow the game to appear on other platforms.
All of this looks like some kind of political affair or a game of Monopoly. One thing is for sure though, we’ll be there for you should anything happen so stay tuned!
