The Steam version has broken every record and continues to grow in popularity by the day. However, a lot more work went into the Xbox One port than gamers realize. Microsoft worked directly with Bluehole to ensure that the console version was a great experience.
Microsoft says that its given enhanced support to the team set to bring PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds to the market. One of the main forms of support Microsoft provided was lending the expertise of The Coalition, the studio behind Gears of War 4, to make sure it ran well on Xbox One. Nico Bihary, the Executive Producer for the game at Microsoft, said the following to Polygon when asked about the collaboration between the two companies.
There was this global assessment within Microsoft of how can we pair up with this super collaborative, super friendly and incredibly successful — in the short term — group for our partnership to deliver. As you can imagine, there were a lot of raised hands within Microsoft to offer support… PUBG is really getting the boutique, first-party, white-glove treatment from Microsoft… Where we are going well beyond that traditional second-party publishing relationship is by offering services like our first-party quality assurance team, offering services like our advanced technical group, and enlisting folks like The Coalition to help with the aiming and tuning of controller systems.
It's great to see Microsoft offering this much support to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. However, at the same time, it makes you wonder why more developers don't seem to get this much backing. A lot of games on Xbox One release in an unpolished state and it seems as though many game makers just aren't comfortable with the system. It would be great if Microsoft could offer the "white-glove treatment" to others who really needed it too.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is coming to Xbox Game Preview on December 12, 2017 for $30. Xbox Game Preview is like Steam Early Access as it allows developers to sell games to Xbox One owners in an unfinished state. If you like multiplayer shooters and want to check out why the PC gaming community loves this title, be sure to purchase it next week. Every Xbox Game Preview experience also comes with a free trial so you can play that before making a purchasing decision.
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