Because the parity clause was NEVER really a thing. I can make clickbait headlines too!
Today I wake up to quotes from ID@Xbox head honcho Chris Charla being spun as “yet another Xbox policy U-turn”, only to groan mournfully over websites shoddy reporting and lack of research.
I’ve spoken to Chris Charla previously in the past about the dreaded ‘parity clause’, and you need only look at games like Oddworld: New ‘n Tasty and Outlast to know that the ‘parity clause’ was never truly the ‘draconian policy’ websites wish it was – but simply a guideline to prevent a negative precedent.
Speaking with Gamespot, Charla said: “What we’ve always said is that developers should just come talk to us. {…} If it’s a situation where a developer needs to ship serially on console because they don’t have the resources to simultaneously ship, we totally get that. It’s no problem.”
Despite the fact Chris Charla said ‘what we’ve always said’, Gamespot saw fit to title the article ‘Microsoft softens stance’ inferring some sort of policy amendment, and of course the interwebs picks up the headline rather than providing decent analysis. The spin gives commenters a chance to kick Microsoft, inciting a flame war which will have people return to the article’s comment system to drive up page views – at least I hope the poor analysis has an agenda, otherwise its just an exercise of stupidity.
Chris emailed me back in January to state: “Any developer who is curious should reach out to us at [email protected] and we’re happy to talk! Our goal is to make sure if a developer wants to bring their game to Xbox One they can!”
These latest comments are no different, it’s frustrating as an Xbox fan and a ‘vidya gaem jornalizt’ to see things repeatedly taken out of context.
Tons of games have released via ID@Xbox far after releasing on PS4 and other platforms, this should be evidence enough that Microsoft are willing to engage with developers to bring games to the platform regardless of where smaller studios point their resources first.
Maybe I’m just pissy because I didn’t have any caffeine yet, but, in closing, BEWARE the spin. I dare you to find a single developer who has complained that they couldn’t deliver an Xbox version of their game due to Microsoft enforcing the ‘clause’ – you won’t be able to.
^Jez (@MSFTY)
Jez C (MSFTY) is a games journalist, Executive Editor at Windows Central. They contributed 39 articles to ICXM in 2015, focused on game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: now leads Xbox coverage at Future plc’s Windows Central as Executive Editor.