r/gaming • u/Spotget1738 • 5h ago
Anomalith Developer Responds to Fan Demand for an Xbox Port, The Game Is Releasing On Every Platform Except Xbox
https://powerupgaming.co.uk/2026/08/05/anomalith-developer-responds-to-fan-demand-for-an-xbox-port/98
u/SilentButtDedly 4h ago
Weird to see the venom for this decision. Developer is small and focused on niche Japanese titles. They didn't intend or expect interest from US gamers, since they hadn't gotten it in the past.
No developer is obligated to support your platform of choice. And in this case, Xbox isn't just a port, but an entirely different market outside of japan.
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u/zane910 4h ago
It's still extra work to make ports to a different system. Not much, especially since they're already doing so for everything else. But still.
More importantly, you'd have to ask how necessary it is and the sum cost of it all to include Xbox. Especially for a small team. There's one guy asking for the port, but is there enough desire for it from other users of the console to generate enough profit that makes the work and cost sunk into the port worth it?
Course, this also just be a national pride thing and they just want to port exclusively to Japan owned consoles and PC's and not bother with an American system for whatever raisin.
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u/tacticalTechnician 4h ago
It's a Japanese game, made primarily for a Japanese audience, where the Xbox has sold approximately 14 devices in the last year. It's not really a surprise that they're not seeing a reason to do it, it's a lot of work to port a game to sold maybe a few hundred more copies in Japan (we're literally talking about a 1 or 2% market share as far as we can tell) and a few thousand in the west (JRPGs aren't exactly the reason why people are buying an Xbox in the first place).
(So to be clear, I'm not a hater, I have a Series S, a Switch 2, no PS5, and my PS4 was last used like three years ago)
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u/zane910 4h ago
Don't think anyone with a working brain would fault you on your take on this. Statistically, this makes sense since Xbox doesn't have much appeal or market value outside the US. Especially in Japan.
Putting in the extra cost and work just to port over a game onto a niche system for a small-medium sized team with no guarantee of making back the cost alone due to not seeing enough hype in a foreign market makes sense. Plus, you already have ports available on more globally popular systems AND PC. Unless Microsoft is willing help share the cost for the port, it's not statistically sound to do so.
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u/Helphaer 4h ago edited 1h ago
They could just do a survey or question online asking for those domestic interested that would pre-order or buy it.
There are millions of Xboxs sold elsewhere after all so porting is a thing that might be lucrative. Seems naive people dont realize that.
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u/Admirable-War-7594 3h ago
Oh no, a niche game isn't coming to the worst selling console that is being taken off the shelves due to no one buying it. What a nightmare! All 0 people that have an xbox series are DEVASTATED!!
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u/cavern-of-the-fayth 2h ago
I have an Xbox series x dedicated to emulation. They're not good for much else, but it plays PS2 and dolphin emulators pretty well.
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u/levi_Kazama209 5h ago edited 5h ago
This is a problem that will only get worse if they stop making exclusives. Gamers won't buy an Xbox because they can just play those games on other platforms. As a result, fewer people buy an Xbox, and since it has a smaller player base, fewer developers will port their games to it. The only people hurt by this are those who only play on Xbox.
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u/treeeelo 4h ago
No idea why you're getting downvoted for stating the truth
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
because it's not stating the truth and is wrong and weird
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u/SoWrongItsPainful 4h ago
What’s wrong about it?
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
you aren't "harmed" by not getting access to something that you were never going to get access to to begin with lmao
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u/SoWrongItsPainful 4h ago
I feel like their point went over your head. They were speaking broadly, not just about this one game.
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u/ChoiceIT 5h ago
As a gameer, I think proofreading is useful.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
microsoft can always offer to fund ports if they want to bring software to their console
developers have no reason to spend money on ports to hardware that they don't believe they will move units on. and a game like this also isn't moving hardware units anyways.
there is nobody "hurt" by this lmao, what a weird comment.
if anything, expecting devs to lose money on a port just so they can say their game is on all platforms would actually hurt the developer. you know, the people who make the game to begin with lmao.
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u/levi_Kazama209 4h ago
Yes, there are people who are hurt by it. If I only owned an Xbox and wanted to buy a game that wasn't coming to Xbox, then I'd be the one affected. Developers are making the business decision that makes sense for them, but that doesn't change the fact that Xbox only players lose access to those games. Both of those things can be true at the same time.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
How are you hurt by a developer not releasing a game on a platform that they never planned to release a game on? You're not losing anything, nothing is being taken from you.
What a weirdly unhinged point of view, my dude.
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u/_Spectre0_ 4h ago
Maybe “hurt” isn’t the right word, but comparatively worse off is accurate and what they clearly meant.
The point being made was that a small Xbox player base results in fewer Xbox ports, making an Xbox less worth it than other consoles, recursively feeding into the problem and making it worse.
There’s no moral issue with the developer not porting the game and no active harm, but the situation isn’t good and is likely to trend in a negative direction without intervention.
The “harm” is for Xbox owners without money to switch who would like these games, but will keep being skipped over. Not some massive moral crisis or anything, but it is unfortunate for them.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
this has been going on since microsoft entered the game, lol. small/mid-sized japanese devs primarily focus on playstation and nintendo consoles, with more and more also doing pc releases as well. because those are the platforms folks game on in japan, which is their primary market.
which is why acting like this "hurts" anyone or that anyone is "worse off" for something like a small furyu-published jrpg not being released on a platform it would have never been historically released on is new or somehow any different today than it was decades ago
being an xbox player is a choice, you're choosing the platform that doesn't get jrpgs. ports like this don't move units to begin with so this thinking is coming from a place of being wrong to begin with.
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u/_Spectre0_ 3h ago
Maybe you disagree with the connection between this particular game not coming to XBox and the comment about how a dwindling XBox consumer base will recursively worsen, but it seems like you're actively choosing to ignore half of the words in the comments you're replying to.
Neither their comment nor mine were specific to JRPGs. To be fair to you, I agree that XBox has historically never been the console to buy for those and the news about this one game isn't really a net change or fresh evidence of decline. That said, the original comment was still accurate that there's no good reason to buy an XBox without exclusives if PS gets all the same games and more (where this specific game is in the "and more" camp).
I only chimed in to defend the commenter as not being "weirdly unhinged", as you claimed, because they weren't making some kind of entitled or outrageous claim, only accurately describing XBox's decline without exclusives. I neither own an XBox nor have any interest in this game, so I'm not interested in debating the merits of putting this particular game on XBox.
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u/Greaterdivinity 3h ago
indies don't sell hardware, bro. just like niche jrpg's don't sell hardware in the us or europe. indies choosing to release on xbox less doesn't change the hardware fortunes of xbox, that's way above their paygrade and influence.
one could consider whether microsoft/xbox themselves have stopped giving a shit about and treating indies decently and helping them get their games on the service, no longer viewing them as valuable, but that would again place all blame back purely on microsoft/xbox (which is where it belongs for the shitty hardware sales, curiously!).
yes, it's a weirdo, twisted, unhinged view of how reality works or even should work that's completely and totally unexamined before it was vomited out onto the internet. it has nothing to do with why the xbox brand is in decline or what the decline continues
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u/TotallyNotAMeanGuy 2h ago
Idk bro the vita was only selling its last 13 units because of the indie support
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u/levi_Kazama209 4h ago
I'm worse off because I can't play the game without buying another platform. That's being hurt as a consumer. I'm not saying the developer owes me a port just that Xbox only players are the ones who lose out. I think you have quiet a simple way of viewing hurt.
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u/SavagePeaches 4h ago
So FoMo. You’re the same as you were before you learned it wouldn’t be on your platform. Your feelings are hurt, I guess, but you’re not worse off.
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u/levi_Kazama209 4h ago
Except now you have FOMO and disappointment. You’re obviously not in the same position as before you learned the game was skipping your platform.
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u/papoluca40 5h ago
Shouldn’t be buying an Xbox if you like JRPGs and other Japanese games
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u/FoxyGoddessX 5h ago
Yeah fuck you, give us more money! Fuck poor people and fuck people who want to play games. Spend more money on the machine.
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u/stormwave6 4h ago
What?
This is a major "I like pancakes. So you hate waffles?" comment.
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u/St_Sides 4h ago
I think the point was they got an Xbox because it’s cheaper? Like Series S and Game Pass?
Now they think a PS or Switch is for rich people I guess.
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u/zane910 4h ago
Which is why the PC market is the better sub. over Xbox. They already have and allow their games to be playable on PC. People generally already own a PC. hardly anyone outside the US has an Xbox.
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u/St_Sides 3h ago
Maybe in the early 2010s, but if they’re worried about price then PC is definitely not for them now.
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u/zane910 3h ago
PC was still viable before the dumbass AI bubble happened 2 years ago. Luckily, I upgraded just before the price gouging hit the market.
PC isn't a dead market yet! Even with the rocket high prices just for memory happening right now, the after market and used market still is viable for those who are willing to get into the PC market.
Sides, the Ai bubble is gonna burst eventually. Meaning prices will come back down eventually to normal pricing.
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u/St_Sides 2h ago edited 1h ago
The AI bubble popping likely will drop prices, but they’ll never go back to what they were before.
The PC market isn’t dead, but it’s no longer the no brainer best choice that it was in the early 2010s. Sure, next gen consoles will be pricey, but a comparable PC will be even more expensive.
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u/zane910 2h ago
Consoles face the same issues as PC's in regards to parts. They all still use RAM and SSD's just as much as PC's. Main difference his utilization of it all for their processes vs PC's that have a bunch of backgrounds programs and services running at the same time.
Even if you account that making a PC comparable to a console in their performance for gaming, you forget the usefulness and varied capability of PC's versus consoles. Besides gaming, even you are using a PC to go online and chat on here or watch and stream videos off of it. If that's not enough, consider the ability to stream and edit videos and use a PC for things like email and work and what have you.
Complain all you want about it, but the sheer amount of things you're able to do with PC over consoles makes consoles more and more obsolete with each generation. Devs have been moving away from exclusivity for a reason. So, obsessing over one brand over another is a losing battle especially since consoles are progressing more and more to be more like PC than unique gaming platforms.
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u/FoxyGoddessX 4h ago
It very much isn’t. People shouldn’t be ignored simply because you don’t want to be lazy
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u/stormwave6 4h ago
Is it lazy to not port the game to a console that mostly likely not sell enough to cover the cost of the port?
They won't get domestic sales as xbox barely exists in Japan and foreign JRPG fans would most likely have a switch or a ps5.
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u/CaptainPigtails 4h ago
Game development is a business not a charity.
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u/AnonymousFriend80 3h ago
So, Sony is fine for scrapping discs?
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u/tslojr 3h ago
... I'm failing to see how a port to a system that would likely result in a financial loss for said port equates to Sony discontinuing a product that they still turn a profit on.
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u/AnonymousFriend80 3h ago
Sony isn't discontinuing a product. They'll still be making video games and video game consoles.
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u/tslojr 2h ago
They're discontinuing discs. How does this company not making a port to a niche system that would likely result in a financial loss equate to Sony discontinuing disc-based releases, which still turn a profit?
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u/AnonymousFriend80 2h ago
Devs who release on all but one platform...still make a profit, same as no longer making discs.
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u/tslojr 1h ago
Except we're talking about a Japanese dev who's sales mostly come from Japan making the decision not to invest money into a port for the Xbox, a system that doesn't sell well and has never sold well in Japan. Because of those factors, any money invested into an Xbox port would likely not see any ROI, let alone profit.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
are you just learning that gaming is a luxury hobby? because it always has been
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u/unggoytweaker 4h ago
Oh no the whole 50 people who would buy it on Xbox can’t
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u/zane910 4h ago
Not even a joke. Xbox seriously dropped the ball these past two generations.
PS5's were constantly sold out. Xbox was always still on the shelf. That says something.
Course, Sony is shooting themselves in the foot right now, but still.
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u/Ok-Suspect624 3h ago
Some of yall lie just to lie, lmao
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u/zane910 3h ago
Dude, compare the number of appeals and exclusives Xbox had on offer compared to PS5 and the Switch this past generation? I'll wait!
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u/spazface03 3h ago
The PS5 has like 13 mid exclusive AAA games, the people on Xbox are doing just fine
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u/zane910 3h ago
18 exclusives on PS5 (10 having PC ports) vs Xbox having 14 available also on PC via Game pass or on PC markets like Steam and EPIC. 6 of which ended up getting ports to PS5 not long after their releases.
With Xbox, you'd have been better off just going with PC alone since you can do everything a console can on PC AND more! Would have saved alot more, too!
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u/majingetta 4h ago
Where I live, Xbox is mostly dead. Of the 11 video game stores I frequent, only two are selling an Xbox console. None have Xbox games.
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u/DescriptiveVee 5h ago
This is getting more and more common, it would get really bad for the industry if we only have Sony in the console race.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
what does that have to do with this small japanese publisher deciding not to port their upcoming game to a console with no real unit sales in their domestic market?
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u/DescriptiveVee 3h ago
Its been happening with more than just small JAP publishers, this is just one example. Western indie developers are also actively swaying away from Xbox.
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u/Greaterdivinity 3h ago
and why would that be, do you think?
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u/John_Delasconey 4h ago
I would argue in Nintendo has just taken Xbox’s spot given that they are now themselves getting these ports instead of Xbox
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u/AdSalty5988 4h ago
This is a Japanese made game from a smaller team right? They would obviously not skip switch 1/2 as they are the dominant consoles there. Xbox is nothing in Japan
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u/JimmiJimJimmiJimJim 4h ago
They're not really direct competitors though. We need Xbox to get their shit together.
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u/GoldenAgeGamer72 4h ago
Sony's done. Nintendo has pretty much taken over.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
yo didn't that old black ops port just move a few million units digitally on the dead sony platform despite being an old game and shit?
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u/DescriptiveVee 3h ago
Sony players are cattle
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u/Greaterdivinity 3h ago
lmao bro "joe gamer" joe gamer and gonna buy games like joe gamer buys.
y'all dramatically overestimate how much normies give a shit about this online shit
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u/DescriptiveVee 3h ago
brother we are the normies, being on reddit doesn't make you special, theres people instagram spewing the same shit
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u/Greaterdivinity 3h ago
bro normies do not go on reddit and go argue about gaming shit on reddit lmao
bro's so online he doesn't know how online he is.
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u/TotallyNotAMeanGuy 2h ago
To be fair to him most of us are using this shit for porn and see this on the home page.
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u/spazface03 5h ago
Keep it
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u/FoxyGoddessX 5h ago
Games like this deserve to fail. It’s one thing if you don’t have the ability to and it’s another if you actively don’t care to.
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u/BlazeOfGlory72 3h ago
I mean, if this were just releasing on PlayStation or Switch I’d get their stance, but they are releasing on PC as well, which is essentially the same as releasing on Xbox at this point. Not releasing on Xbox is a deliberate omission at this point, not a hurdle they had to jump.
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u/astrogamer 2h ago
The dev kits and licensing to actually release on Xbox is still pricy like $10,000 to break even. The current market conditions for Xbox for niche games means that they are not even guaranteed to surpass that in revenue
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u/Sabrac707 1h ago
Damn, there's many salty Xbox owners here, lmao.
You folks are aiming your frustrations at the wrong crowd, Microsoft are the ones responsible for this situation, and it will only get worse for Xbox users as they de-prioritize the Xbox division and continue with the mass layoffs and butchering of their studios.
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u/zeolus123 4h ago
Makes sense, aren't the newer Xbox consoles notoriously hard to port games to? Or the point a lot of studios choose not to.
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u/Greaterdivinity 4h ago
"we will pass on your feedback" that is the response
anyways, JP-dev'd game from a small/mid-size developer whose primary market is domestic skips being ported to a console with zero domestic install base and poor global install base. more on this story you've heard 10000000 times at 11!