Nintendo’s latest Direct may have been light on major first-party announcements, but there were no shortage of third-party developers present at the event. Atlus showed up to unveil a remaster ofRaidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, Square Enix stopped by to give viewers a new look at theDragon Quest 1+2 HD Remake, and even Spike Chunsoft popped in to reveal a newAI: The Somnium Filesgame. Of course, it wasn’t a big surprise that these developers attended theNintendoDirect, considering that they had made appearances in years prior. What was a big surprise, however, was that Sony also participated in the showcase.
The Nintendo Direct featured not one, but two games from PlayStation-exclusive franchises:Patapon 1+2 ReplayandEverybody’s Golf Hot Shots. While the first game is a remastered bundle of the PSP-era rhythm gamesPatapon 1and2, the second one isa brand-new mainline entry in theEverybody’s Golfseries(previously known asHot Shots Golfin the U.S.). Although these franchises have always been published by Sony up to this point, Bandai Namco is taking up the publishing duties for their new installments.Patapon 1+2 ReplayandEverybody’s Golf Hot Shotsare coming to PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC later this year, but they won’t be released on Xbox. The fact that these games are still skipping Microsoft’s consoles, despite them being multiplatform, does not bode well for fans of the brand.
Sony is Bringing Two PlayStation IPs to the Nintendo Switch, But Not Xbox
Sony Normally Doesn’t Release Games on Nintendo Consoles, But Times are Changing
Like most console manufacturers, Sony has typically not released its games on rival platforms. In fact, barring a few exceptions, like 1998’sWipeout 64and 2015’sReturn to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale, games from Sony-owned franchises have historically never been brought to Nintendo consoles. Things, however, have begun to change in recent months. Last year,Sony releasedLEGO Horizon Adventures, a LEGO-themed family-friendly spin-off of the best-sellingHorizonfranchise, for not only PS5 and PC, but Nintendo Switch, as well. A few months later, it announced that a remaster of the cult classic PS Vita action RPG,Freedom Wars, would also be released on Nintendo Switch, courtesy of Bandai Namco.
TheFreedom Warsremaster being licensed to Bandai Namco and ported to the Switch seemingly wasn’t just a one-off occurrence. SincePatapon 1+2 ReplayandEverybody’s Golf Hot Shotsare also getting the same treatment, it appears that Sony is now okay with handing off its legacy, lesser-known IPs to other developers, while still retaining ownership of the brands. Although thesePlayStation-exclusive franchisesare getting a second shot at life on other platforms, unfortunately, none of them are coming to Xbox.
Despite Microsoft Bringing Its Games to PlayStation, Sony Will Likely Not Port Its Games to Xbox
Bandai Namco is typically a big supporter of the Xbox ecosystem, so the fact that none of its PlayStation games have been published on the platform yet seems to suggest that Sony has had a say in what consoles they can be released on. Sony has, of course, never willingly launched a game from a franchise it owned on an Xbox platform, and itregularly signs deals with third-party publishersto keep games away from Xbox rather than bring them there. Microsoft, on the other hand, is adopting the exact opposite strategy.
Over the last 12 months, Microsoft has announced plans to bring several of its Xbox-exclusive games to rival platforms, includingheavy hitters likeIndiana Jonesand the Great CircleandForza Horizon 5. Despite the company’s willingness to release its titles on PlayStation consoles, it seems Sony has no intention of ever returning the favor. With the PS5 comfortably outselling the Xbox Series X/S worldwide, Sony likely believes that there’s no need to bring its games to the Xbox platform and help its direct competitor. Even though the company is seemingly open to the idea of bringing its dormant IPs to theNintendoplatform, the fact that it isn’t letting titles as minor asPataponcome to Xbox suggests that it won’t be porting any games to Microsoft’s consoles anytime soon.
Nintendo
Nintendo is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. While producing highly popular hardware consoles like the Switch, the company is known for its many first party video game franchises like Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and many more.
