Releasing a Cross-Gen Game Has a Lot of Technical Constraints, Says Compulsion Games

Montreal-based studio Compulsion Games joined Xbox Game Studios back in 2018, equally you might recall, aslope Ninja Theory, Undead Labs, The Initiative, and Playground Games. Non long after that, the studio released We Happy Few out of early access, and the game somewhen appeared on Game Pass besides.

In a new interview with French website Xbox Squad, PR Manager Naila Hadjas talked about joining Game Laissez passer equally something with almost no downsides.

Yet, she did point out that having to release games on cross-generation platforms such equally Xbox One and Xbox Series Southward|10 would indeed have severe technical constraints.

No, no negative bear upon. Positive, yes. We want as many people as possible to access our games.

On We Happy Few for example, at first nosotros were only going to release it on Steam. And little by little, information technology was added to ID @ Xbox then Playstation at the time. What we really desire is for people to be able to play our game. And the fact that it'south on Game Pass means that more than people are going to be able to play information technology.

There is not really a negative side.

The merely matter that can negatively impact is when studios release on multiple consoles. For example Xbox One and Series. In that location are a lot of technical constraints. It'due south a version of the game that has to run on both even though they don't have the same ability.

This isn't surprising for anyone tech-savvy enough to sympathise it but usually, game developers tend to downplay this argument and land that nada at all is lost in the making of a cross-gen game. That'southward blatantly false, though, and with then many cross-gen games however to come (including big first-party exclusives like Halo Space, Horizon Forbidden Due west, God of War Ragnarok, and Gran Turismo vii merely to name a few), information technology'southward refreshing to run across at to the lowest degree one developer speaking plainly.

Compulsion Games PR Manager Naila Hadjas also discussed the increased resources available to the studio now that they're part of the Xbox family unit.

It changes that we have the means to hire people, we can afford to move into more comfortable studios. It also gives us a lot of resources, for example research.

Nosotros're going to write, do research, and there are (at Microsoft) a lot of departments that are going to help us deepen our studies, our research on people, various things.

They accept departments that will tell us if the direction we are taking is right or put u.s. in touch with people who could refine the project and ensure that what we are doing is coherent.

It's also because there are other Microsoft studios that we talk to oft. We can exchange ideas, seek advice. In that location's a whole back up system at Microsoft that helps us improve our game. Information technology'due south something we wouldn't have had as a freelance.

Compulsion Games started development on their side by side projection in early 2019 and they're now in 'full swing', according to Hadjas. It'll be a narrative-focused third-person game that remains true to the studio's legacy of 'wacky' games subsequently Contrast and We Happy Few.