Buried by the news that Microsoft’s PC and Xbox game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is also coming to PlayStation 5 after a period of timed exclusivity, Xbox adventure game Towerborne has had a release reshuffle of its own.
Towerborne, from The Banner Saga developer Stoic, was set to launch on Xbox and PC at the same time and straight into Game Pass day one. However, Towerborne is now a ‘limited time exclusive on Steam,’ according to a new trailer, below.
What that means is Towerborne begins Steam Early Access on September 10. In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft said an Xbox Game Preview release will follow, with a full, now free-to-play launch planned for 2025. Towerborne will also include cross-progression, so your progress will carry over to whichever platform you prefer to play on.
Explaining the decision to go with an early access launch, game director Daniel McLaren pointed to the successful Kickstarter that got The Banner Saga off the ground.
“Stoic’s history has always been about interacting with our players, and Kickstarter is the promise of something,” McLaren said. “For Stoic, that worked out very well, and now we’re able to say hey, you don’t have to wait for us this time, we can give you a game right now.”
Microsoft said that as a result of the Steam early access launch, “Xbox, PC, and Xbox Game Pass players will immediately feel the benefit of the refinement Towerborne will undergo during the early access period and beyond.”
It’s fair to say the announcement of Towerborne Steam first launch and full launch in 2025 has sparked a vociferous discussion among Xbox fans. While some are saying they’re fine with the release strategy, others are pointing to the fact Microsoft has for years marketed Towerborne as a Microsoft-published Xbox game and now it’s set to launch on Steam first, disappointing yet again what’s left of the company’s core console audience.
Of course, this all taps into the growing sense that Xbox console exclusives are no longer a priority for Microsoft’s gaming business, with more games set to launch on rival platforms and an upcoming push into the mobile space with an app store of its own. While Microsoft executives continue to stress the importance of consoles to Xbox, and indeed have promised next-generation consoles and heavily teased an Xbox handheld for the future, the overall strategy is clear to see. All this at a time when Microsoft cut an eye-watering 1,900 staff from its gaming business this year, and shuttered a number of studios amid plummeting sales of Xbox Series X and S.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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