Insomniac talks exclusivity and Sunset Overdrive - "Ratchet could end up on Xbox one day"
"I would not count on it being on the PS4," says community developer, but "you never know"
We've seen and heard little of Insomniac's Sunset Overdrive since the Xbox One exclusive's announcement at E3, which is rather disappointing for me personally - a world in which little is said about a game that looks like Crackdown's spiritual successor isn't a world I want to inhabit. Accordingly, I've just been on a jaunt round the developer's forum, and there are some asides from community web developer Tim Salvitti that you may be interested in.
First off, Insomniac likes what it's seen of the new Kinect, but has yet to decide how it will be used in Sunset Overdrive. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," Salvitti told one anxious community member. "Kinect 2.0 has some awesome new features that could really enhance the experience. It is also far and away better than Kinect 1.0. That being said, we have not determined how Kinect will be involved in Sunset yet.
He also shared a little more on the game's supporting technology - it runs on an upgraded, Xbox One-tailored version of the engine that powered Fuse, the developer's underwhelming Xbox 360 debut. "The version of the engine Sunset is running will be optimized to get the most out of that console. We could show you, but we are waiting until the kick-ass meter hits 12 (out of 10... or maybe 5) first."
Last but not least, there's the following on exclusivity. To cut a long story short, Insomniac has no plans to release Sunset Overdrive on consoles besides Xbox One - "no need to beat the proverbial dead horse" - but given that the independent studio apparently owns all its IP from this point on, a multiplatform release isn't impossible at some point in the very nebulous future. In fact, nothing's impossible.
"Sunset Overdrive is and will be exclusive to the Xbox One," Salvitti told the creator of a petition for a PlayStation version. "Petitions will not change that. We have a partner in Microsoft, that we are happy with for this title. That doesn't mean we can't and won't work with other publishers (see Into the Nexus)."
"I would not count on it being on the PS4," he explained to another user. "I will not say never because you never really know (heck Ratchet could end up on Xbox one day), but we are not planning on it being on the PS4, nor is it planned to be a timed exclusive. It is being developed and optimized for the Xbox One."
Here's a bit of context: back in June, studio boss Ted Price had this to say about Insomniac's teaming up with Microsoft to release Sunset Overdrive. "It may surprise some of our longtime fans that we have partnered with Microsoft Studios to develop Sunset Overdrive exclusively for Xbox One. When we first began discussing this idea with Microsoft, we were initially hesitant to shift back into an exclusive arrangement.
"But as the Microsoft team began introducing us to the abilities and philosophies driving the development of Xbox One, we knew that Sunset Overdrive was a perfect fit. The Xbox One and Xbox Live will support our ambitions to create an ongoing two-way dialogue with our community.
"It will also allow us to have quicker production cycles, enabling timely content updates for new weapons, characters, storylines and even pop culture-relevant content like memes based on social commentary.
Many of you may be asking what this news means for Insomniac," he went on. "What about Ratchet & Clank? What about Fuse? Others may ask why we have 'abandoned' our PlayStation heritage. The truth is, not a lot has changed. Insomniac has been, is, and will continue to be 100% independent. We have treasured that independence for the last 19 years.
"It now allows us to own and control our IP, and find the most suitable partners to make those IP a reality. While we are excited about partnering with Microsoft on Sunset Overdrive, that doesn't mean we can't or wouldn't make games with our longtime friends at Sony. That's the magic of being an independent developer."
Also according to Price, Sunset Overdrive may avail itself of the "pretty large potential" offered by Xbox One's cloud. Any thoughts on the game so far?
http://www.oxm.co.uk/63422/insomniac-talks-exclusivity-and-sunset-overdrive-ratchet-could-end-up-on-xbox-one-day/
