Microsoft doesn’t seem interested in clarifying the terms of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds ’ console exclusivity, based on a new Eurogamer interview with Corporate Vice President Mike Ybarra. But that recitence flies in the face of comments from PUBG Creative Director Brendan “Playerunknown” Greene during his time onstage at Devcom on Monday.
Ybarra sat down with the European gaming news site on the first day of gamescom to discuss a variety of subjects, from controllers and vertical stands to State of Decay 2 . But the most interesting portion, for the 8 million people already playing, was Ybarra’s refusal to clarify how exclusive PUBG will be to the Xbox ecosystem. Rather than provide a concise update on the matter - something like “ PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be exclusive to the Xbox One for [X] months/years” - Ybarra acknowledged Microsoft’s role as publisher, deferred to Bluehole repeatedly and chuckled. Phrasing suggests the studio has the option of bringing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to PS4 at some point. But Ybarra refuses to say for certain whether or not PUBG will always be an Xbox exclusive.
The industry’s ongoing war on the definition of “exclusive” wouldn’t be newsworthy if it didn’t fly in the face of advice (shared Monday) from one of the key minds behind the game being discussed. Brendan Greene was one of several developers to take the stage at Devcom, a developer event preceding gamescom, and Gamasutra reports he spent several of his 90 minutes stressing the importance of open and honest communication with fans.
“We believe in this really open sense of development, where you don't treat your players like they're stupid,” Greene said . “They understand game development, or they want to understand it, and the more you communicate and the more that you show them about it, the better it is for you.”
The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds creative director also advised against attempting to “whitewash situations with PR speak,” acknowledging that “most people these days will see through that.” Reports suggest the entire talk struck a much different tone than we tend to hear from management and executives in the video game industry. We’re not sure how such radically different approaches could emerge, almost simultaneously, from two people who are ostensibly now business partners (to some degree). But we can only hope console manufacturers take a page or two out of Greene’s book. And soon.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is available in Early Access. The launch build is expected to emerge before the end of 2017 and an Xbox One port is slated for early 2018.
Be sure to check back with Player.One and follow Scott on Twitter for additional PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds news in 2017 and however long Bluehole supports PUBG in the years ahead.
