Limbo on PS3, Steam: why now?
End of Xbox 360 exclusivity opens door.
Limbo developer Playdead has explained why it has taken a year for superb downloadable game Limbo to launch on the PlayStation Network and Steam.
Limbo began life as a PC game, but Danish developer Playdead decided to make the abstract puzzle platformer multiplatform. It was through this process that Microsoft secured Xbox 360 exclusivity in exchange for its support.
Limbo was then released as an Xbox Live Arcade title in July 2010 as part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion.
Now, a year later, Limbo is coming to the PlayStation 3 and the PC.
"Initially, Arnt Jensen, my partner and game director for Playdead, was interested in releasing Limbo as a PC title," Playdead CEO and co-founder Dino Patti told Eurogamer.
"During production, however, we decided to bring it to all platforms, which would offer the full experience to the gamers.
"When it came to the actual coordination with the specific platforms holders, Microsoft provided us with an excellent opportunity, which included a lot of support for the title which in the end would mean a better visibility for Limbo.
"That deal also included exclusivity. So that and production/QA are the things which has been keeping us [from releasing Limbo on PS3, PC]."
The PSN and Steam versions of Limbo contain a "little extra secret" but Patti refused to reveal what it is, or discuss pricing.
He did say, however, that Limbo's success - a whopping two million people played the Xbox Live demo - will help Playdead make games the way it wants to.
"We love that the the game has been seen and played by so many people," he continued. "Over two million people have played the demo. Besides that Limbo has gotten a lot of positive attention by the fans, people and magazines we respect.
"We hope that this foundation will make it easier for us in the future to get our games created as Arnt and the team would want them to be."
So what's next?
"Arnt will be directing our next title as well, and the team has undertaken many new challenges, so I can't wait to show it, though there will probably be a while before we are ready."