Multiple reports over the course of the past year have suggested that Kojima is partnering with Microsoft to make a cloud-based game for Xbox. While a fraction of the PlayStation community seems disappointed with this shift, which led to a petition to cancel Kojima’s Xbox game, the idea of a cloud-based game for the Xbox ecosystem seems promising for all the right reasons.
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Kojima’s Xbox Game Could be a New Beginning
The details on Kojima’s rumored Xbox game are pretty scarce right now, but the little tidbits known are intriguing and thought-provoking on their own. For starters, Kojima partnering with Xbox changes a lot of things. PlayStation-centric studios are not known to approach Xbox. Similarly, Xbox-centric studios are not known to approach PlayStation. While this fundamental shift is concerning, it’s also exciting.
Kojima’s partnership with Xbox opens up new doors for other independent studios that in the past have stuck to developing games for a particular ecosystem. For instance, Paris-based Quantic Dream has primarily made games for PlayStation devices in the past, with 2002’s Fahrenheit being an exception. Quantic Dream’s story-driven interactive adventures have found an audience among the PlayStation community, and it’s difficult for many to imagine it abandoning that platform to pursue a different one with a new set of audiences. However, Quantic Dream now seems to be embracing its independent nature and is exploring other options outside of PlayStation.
In the past, Kojima has shown interest in cloud gaming, streaming, and subscription services. PlayStation isn’t as aggressively investing in cloud-based systems as Xbox is doing, and it makes sense that Kojima would pursue the latter for his ambitious cloud-based project rather than the former. The Xbox cloud gaming service is also a part of Xbox’s game pass subscription, which makes it even more accessible to Xbox consumers.
Kojima’s relationship with PlayStation shouldn’t necessarily be affected, as Hermen Hulst recently acknowledged Kojima Productions’ significance in PlayStation’s portfolio – indicating that Kojima Productions could still make games for PlayStation devices in the future. The upcoming Death Stranding Director’s Cut is a solid confirmation of this, which could be followed by Death Stranding 2 despite Kojima switching sides to make a cloud-based game exclusively for Xbox.
How Kojima’s Xbox Game Could Affect the AAA Exclusive Space
AAA exclusive games have never been as popular as they are now. Whether it’s from PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo, exclusive games from first-party and second-party studios are some of the most polished experiences out there. However, the AAA exclusive games are becoming stagnant, with lesser innovations and greater reliance on tried and tested ideas. Most popular AAA games nowadays tend to be structurally similar, having open worlds and semi-open worlds to appeal to a broad audience.
On the other hand, indie games continue to push boundaries and find new ways to define this interactive medium. However, there’s a huge margin between indie games and AAA games, whether exclusive or not. Amidst them is a small chunk of indie AAA studios who makes games that boast experimental game designs alongside high-quality visuals and performances. Kojima Productions is one such studio.
Death Stranding may have received polarizing reviews, but it’s hard to ignore the multitude of fresh new gameplay ideas it brings to the AAA space. Despite being innovative, Death Stranding remains structurally similar to most other AAA games, as it is an open-world action game filled with main and side objectives for the player character to pursue. However, Kojima’s Xbox cloud game could change that via some more radical changes.
Cloud gaming is still growing and could greatly benefit from a AAA game developed by a well-established studio. Kojima’s Xbox game, in true Kojima fashion, could set the premise for future cloud-based games and allow more AAA developers to experiment with making games on this platform. Given Kojima’s popularity and the abundance of Xbox game pass users, it could easily garner attention, compelling more gamers to try cloud gaming. In an interview with BAFTA last year, Kojima talked about making a horror game that uses “revolutionary techniques to create terror.” Xbox cloud gaming could be the solution for making such a revolutionary game with a AAA budget.
In the past, AAA games have elevated the medium with their visuals and scale, and Kojima’s cloud-based Xbox game could be just another step in the right direction. While Kojima and Xbox have yet to talk about this strange yet exciting prospect, fans could hope to hear something about it before 2021 ends.
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Source: BAFTA
