UPDATE (Sept 20th, 2020): Added Minecraft Dungeons, The Bard's Tale ARPG, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps!
Considering today's (not so secret) announcement, I felt this would be the best time for a new entry in my "let's look over" series covering the Switch support of various 3rd-party publishers. And boy is this one a doozy.
Once upon a time, when the Earth was young, Microsoft allowed their studios and IPs to appear on Nintendo's portable systems due to them (even today) not being in the handheld race. This resulted in Rare still having ties to Nintendo after the MS buyout in 2002, with games like Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge on GBA, and later Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise on DS, and of course what DK games they were able to port/remake. We also saw games such as MechAssault: Phantom War and Age of Empires: The Age of Kings on DS via Backbone and Majesco. We even saw TWO Blue Dragon games on DS (vs. one 360 game, wat), with Blue Dragon Plus being developed by both feelplus and... Nintendo's own Brownie Brown (now 1UP Studio)... uhh... surprise!?
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow on DS in 2010 by tri-Crescendo and Bandai Namco (localized by D3) would be the swan song in this early partnership. Possibly also because Rare's portable team was apparently absorbed into the main team to work on the Kinect, it seemed MS were switching gears for a new era, and that likely meant supporting Nintendo's portable systems wasn't worth it anymore. This meant no 3DS games (well, until one below).
Fast forward to 2014 when Microsoft bought Mojang and their Minecraft franchise. The game was very much "MS first" in that after its PC debut, MS and Mojang (and space) together brought the game to Xbox 360 back in 2012 and later XBO. Before the buyout, Sony would publish their versions of the game worldwide at retail with Mojang handling the digital versions themselves IIRC. Once MS bought them, things started happening.
2016 rolls around and not only does Minecraft come to Nintendo platforms for the very first time, but in Japan, MICROSOFT would handle publishing duties there, not Mojang (who would go solo in the west). However, there was a bit more. Microsoft had full involvement with the Wii U version, going as far to place their logo on the back cover, and even have their copyright be the first one shown. This was a legit Microsoft product on a Nintendo system again and not by association. Then the New 3DS version was released in 2017 (and in EU in 2018?) being the same. But that same year, the Switch released, and we get closer to the present.
Let's get to the Switch support:
Minecraft
Publisher: Mojang (NA and EU)/Microsoft Studios (JP)
Developer: Mojang (main game)/4J Studios (Switch port)/SkyBox Labs (Better Together update)
Release Date: May 11th, 2017 (NA eShop)/June 21st, 2018 (NA retail) (Too many other dates to list honestly lol)
The latest Nintendo version of the game, but also brought something never imagined before; FULL Xbox Live integration. That's right. Your Microsoft/Xbox account, real XBL Achievements, the works. And cross-play with all other supported platforms via the Better Together update that was by SkyBox. In another twist, we even got to see that old Bear and Bird and other MS IPs come over via skins, including the Halo Mash-Up Pack, no joke! Of course you also get the Nintendo-exclusive Super Mario Mash-Up Pack that was also on Wii U and later New 3DS, so you can be a blocky Banjo traversing the blocky Mushroom Kingdom. No really, you can!
Cuphead
Publisher: Studio MDHR
Developer: Studio MDHR
Release Date: April 18th, 2019 (WW)
Microsoft were the ones to approach Studio MDHR about even getting Cuphead on Switch in the first place, AND there will be future XBL integration as well... we just don't know when. :P
Banjo-Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Release Date: Fall 2019
Not a full game but may just well be the most important thing MS could've done for many. For the first time since Banjo-Pilot on GBA in 2005, Banjo-Kazooie (the real ones, not the blocky kind) make their return on Nintendo hardware as the 3rd DLC character. AND it's their first in a Nintendo-published game since Banjo-Tooie in 2000. Nintendo even got Grant Kirkhope (the first ever western composer in Smash) to create the song used in the reveal trailer, which you can check out here!
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios (formerly Microsoft Studios)
Developer: Moon Studios
Release Date: September 27th, 2019 (WW)
This is it. There's no getting around it. This is 1000% a Microsoft game on a Nintendo system, in full, published and everything. What seemed impossible many years ago is real. Ori was just freshly announced in the Aug 19th, 2019 Indie World presentation. It will for now be digital-only and will feature XBL integration as well (not clear IIRC if it's at launch or after). Read the announcement here!
Minecraft Dungeons
Publisher: Mojang Studios (NA and EU)/Xbox Game Studios (JP)
Developer: Mojang Studios/Double Eleven
Release Date: May 26th, 2020 (WW)
This is a spin-off of Minecraft more directly by Mojang unlike other spin-offs like Story Mode. The Hero Edition is the physical edition released a few months later and is once again published directly by Microsoft in Japan (Bandai Namco published the PS4 version in Japan).
The Bard's Tale ARPG: Remastered and Resnarkled
Publisher: InXile Entertainment
Developer:InXile Entertainment
Release Date: June 17th, 2020 (WW)
A curious listing, wouldn't you say? This was made long ago well before InXile were ever bought by Microsoft, so why include it? I'm telling you why! It's getting Xbox Live support in a future update! Oh and it's narrated by the late great Tony Jay, voice of Megabyte in ReBoot and Frollo in Hunchback of Notre Dame. Thus, you must buy it! :P
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Publisher: iam8bit
Developer: Moon Studios
Release Date: September 17th, 2020 (WW)
Most saw this coming, but few thought it'd be this soon. Just 6 months and a week after launching on XBO and PC, the sequel was released on Switch. It runs at 900p docked and 720p in portable mode and targets 60fps. VERY impressive feat considering the issues this game had at launch prior. Oddly iam8bit (who's released special physical soundtracks for the series) stepped in to publish it this time, including in Japan. Not only that, they are releasing both a fancy collector's edition that includes physical versions of both games, but also regular at retail editions of both games later this year. The bad news is that Xbox Live support is absent with no word yet if it'll be added later. Cuphead is still supposed to get it last we heard (well, the original announcement) so there's no reason for this not to.
###
I excluded New Super Lucky's Tale as that had no known involvement from Microsoft. Same with Hellblade as while that did come out not long after Microsoft bought Ninja Theory, there seems to be no real involvement from Microsoft (other than not cancelling it I guess?).
So that's about it for now! What do you think of Microsoft's Switch support so far and what do you want to see from them in the future on Switch?
Considering today's (not so secret) announcement, I felt this would be the best time for a new entry in my "let's look over" series covering the Switch support of various 3rd-party publishers. And boy is this one a doozy.
Once upon a time, when the Earth was young, Microsoft allowed their studios and IPs to appear on Nintendo's portable systems due to them (even today) not being in the handheld race. This resulted in Rare still having ties to Nintendo after the MS buyout in 2002, with games like Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge on GBA, and later Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise on DS, and of course what DK games they were able to port/remake. We also saw games such as MechAssault: Phantom War and Age of Empires: The Age of Kings on DS via Backbone and Majesco. We even saw TWO Blue Dragon games on DS (vs. one 360 game, wat), with Blue Dragon Plus being developed by both feelplus and... Nintendo's own Brownie Brown (now 1UP Studio)... uhh... surprise!?
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow on DS in 2010 by tri-Crescendo and Bandai Namco (localized by D3) would be the swan song in this early partnership. Possibly also because Rare's portable team was apparently absorbed into the main team to work on the Kinect, it seemed MS were switching gears for a new era, and that likely meant supporting Nintendo's portable systems wasn't worth it anymore. This meant no 3DS games (well, until one below).
Fast forward to 2014 when Microsoft bought Mojang and their Minecraft franchise. The game was very much "MS first" in that after its PC debut, MS and Mojang (and space) together brought the game to Xbox 360 back in 2012 and later XBO. Before the buyout, Sony would publish their versions of the game worldwide at retail with Mojang handling the digital versions themselves IIRC. Once MS bought them, things started happening.
2016 rolls around and not only does Minecraft come to Nintendo platforms for the very first time, but in Japan, MICROSOFT would handle publishing duties there, not Mojang (who would go solo in the west). However, there was a bit more. Microsoft had full involvement with the Wii U version, going as far to place their logo on the back cover, and even have their copyright be the first one shown. This was a legit Microsoft product on a Nintendo system again and not by association. Then the New 3DS version was released in 2017 (and in EU in 2018?) being the same. But that same year, the Switch released, and we get closer to the present.
Let's get to the Switch support:
Minecraft
Publisher: Mojang (NA and EU)/Microsoft Studios (JP)
Developer: Mojang (main game)/4J Studios (Switch port)/SkyBox Labs (Better Together update)
Release Date: May 11th, 2017 (NA eShop)/June 21st, 2018 (NA retail) (Too many other dates to list honestly lol)
The latest Nintendo version of the game, but also brought something never imagined before; FULL Xbox Live integration. That's right. Your Microsoft/Xbox account, real XBL Achievements, the works. And cross-play with all other supported platforms via the Better Together update that was by SkyBox. In another twist, we even got to see that old Bear and Bird and other MS IPs come over via skins, including the Halo Mash-Up Pack, no joke! Of course you also get the Nintendo-exclusive Super Mario Mash-Up Pack that was also on Wii U and later New 3DS, so you can be a blocky Banjo traversing the blocky Mushroom Kingdom. No really, you can!
Cuphead
Publisher: Studio MDHR
Developer: Studio MDHR
Release Date: April 18th, 2019 (WW)
Microsoft were the ones to approach Studio MDHR about even getting Cuphead on Switch in the first place, AND there will be future XBL integration as well... we just don't know when. :P
Banjo-Kazooie in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Release Date: Fall 2019
Not a full game but may just well be the most important thing MS could've done for many. For the first time since Banjo-Pilot on GBA in 2005, Banjo-Kazooie (the real ones, not the blocky kind) make their return on Nintendo hardware as the 3rd DLC character. AND it's their first in a Nintendo-published game since Banjo-Tooie in 2000. Nintendo even got Grant Kirkhope (the first ever western composer in Smash) to create the song used in the reveal trailer, which you can check out here!
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios (formerly Microsoft Studios)
Developer: Moon Studios
Release Date: September 27th, 2019 (WW)
This is it. There's no getting around it. This is 1000% a Microsoft game on a Nintendo system, in full, published and everything. What seemed impossible many years ago is real. Ori was just freshly announced in the Aug 19th, 2019 Indie World presentation. It will for now be digital-only and will feature XBL integration as well (not clear IIRC if it's at launch or after). Read the announcement here!
Minecraft Dungeons
Publisher: Mojang Studios (NA and EU)/Xbox Game Studios (JP)
Developer: Mojang Studios/Double Eleven
Release Date: May 26th, 2020 (WW)
This is a spin-off of Minecraft more directly by Mojang unlike other spin-offs like Story Mode. The Hero Edition is the physical edition released a few months later and is once again published directly by Microsoft in Japan (Bandai Namco published the PS4 version in Japan).
The Bard's Tale ARPG: Remastered and Resnarkled
Publisher: InXile Entertainment
Developer:InXile Entertainment
Release Date: June 17th, 2020 (WW)
A curious listing, wouldn't you say? This was made long ago well before InXile were ever bought by Microsoft, so why include it? I'm telling you why! It's getting Xbox Live support in a future update! Oh and it's narrated by the late great Tony Jay, voice of Megabyte in ReBoot and Frollo in Hunchback of Notre Dame. Thus, you must buy it! :P
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Publisher: iam8bit
Developer: Moon Studios
Release Date: September 17th, 2020 (WW)
Most saw this coming, but few thought it'd be this soon. Just 6 months and a week after launching on XBO and PC, the sequel was released on Switch. It runs at 900p docked and 720p in portable mode and targets 60fps. VERY impressive feat considering the issues this game had at launch prior. Oddly iam8bit (who's released special physical soundtracks for the series) stepped in to publish it this time, including in Japan. Not only that, they are releasing both a fancy collector's edition that includes physical versions of both games, but also regular at retail editions of both games later this year. The bad news is that Xbox Live support is absent with no word yet if it'll be added later. Cuphead is still supposed to get it last we heard (well, the original announcement) so there's no reason for this not to.
###
I excluded New Super Lucky's Tale as that had no known involvement from Microsoft. Same with Hellblade as while that did come out not long after Microsoft bought Ninja Theory, there seems to be no real involvement from Microsoft (other than not cancelling it I guess?).
So that's about it for now! What do you think of Microsoft's Switch support so far and what do you want to see from them in the future on Switch?
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