Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 got a big showcase at the Xbox Developer Direct last week and, if you’re anything like me, a game being featured on a hardware manufacturer’s stage tends to make me assume it will be exclusive to that platform.
There are exceptions, of course. Xbox got Cyberpunk 2077 for its E3 presentation in 2018, and Call of Duty showed up at platform-specific events before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, too. But those were well-known commodities that are unlikely to be mistaken for exclusives.
Generally, though, if a game is being featured in a presentation by Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo, it’s because it’s an exclusive. Tears of the Kingdom dominated Nintendo Directs, God of War Ragnarok showed up at States of Play, and Indiana Jones got prime real estate at last June’s Xbox Games Showcase.
Obscuring Clair Obscur’s Launch Plans
So, I was going through my usual inner turmoil while watching Clair Obscur’s big gameplay and story demonstration at last week’s Developer Direct. I don’t have a current gen Xbox, so whenever a cool Xbox exclusive gets unveiled I have to debate whether I should skip it, wait for it to come to PS5, play it on my PC on low graphical settings, or finally shell out for a Xbox Series X.
Yes, playing via Xbox Cloud Gaming is an option. No, my Internet isn’t good enough to make that work reliably.
I’ve put it off, and have felt justified doing so as Xbox has begun bringing more and more games to other consoles. That’s usually fine because Xbox doesn’t tend to have that many must-play games and when it does, they’re also on PC. But occasionally I’ll hit that Indiana Jones edge case where a game is going to be too demanding for my PC and not available on PS5.
I jumped to the conclusion that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a similar case. And that’s despite having previously seen it featured by Sony. I just forgot. The tunnel vision of the presentation will do that to you. When you see a game trailer and only Xbox logos pop up at the end, it’s easy to assume that it’s just coming to Xbox.
Expedition 33 You Later
But that isn’t the case for Clair Obscur, and I want as many people to know as possible because it looks like it could be a really cool game. It has a fantastic premise, imaginative environmental design, and stylish Persona-inspired UI. I just want Sony players to be aware that they also have a chance to check this game out.
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When a game shows up at one platform’s show and not others, there’s usually a financial reason. It might be that the console manufacturer provided some funding in exchange for the right to show it off at a high profile event, so players associate the game with that specific platform. Sandfall Interactive is a small team, so it seems likely this could be the case. When you need to get a highly ambitious game over the finish line, every drop of funding helps.
And I don’t blame Xbox for wanting the game at its show. It’s a cool game. Just don’t mistake Xbox advertising it for Xbox owning it. PS5 players, when the game launches on April 24, PS5 you too can find out what a ‘Clair Obscur’ is for yourself.
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Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s Wild Story Twist Already Has Me Hooked
A JRPG that isn’t about fighting god? Sign me up.