Nearly four years after the announcement that the action-packed 2D platformer indie Berserk Boy is coming to Xbox consoles, it looks like the game might finally make its way to Microsoft's systems soon.
First revealed in 2021 and announced for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, PS5, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, Berserk Boy was first released on Steam and Switch in March 2024, and came to PS5 earlier this week on February 17. The only platform it still doesn't have a release date for is Xbox; when asked about this in late January, the developer commented "Xbox doesn't love me," hinting that there was a problem on Microsoft's end preventing the game from launching on its consoles.
Now, though, it's been confirmed that whatever that issue was has been taken care of. "We’re working with Xbox, there’s no bad blood," BerserkBoy Games wrote on X (Twitter) on Tuesday afternoon. "'Xbox doesn’t love me' was about an issue that has now been resolved."
Yet again, Xbox comes last
Now that whatever was going on has been taken care of, players hope to see Berserk Boy finally head to Xbox systems in the near future. However, even though we know the Xbox version is being worked on, the game's developer hasn't given any kind of a release window for it. Until one is shared, it's unclear how much longer users on Microsoft's consoles will have to wait to jump in.
This is certainly a frustrating situation for Xbox fans, and what's equally frustrating is that it's not a terribly uncommon one. Xbox is often the last platform to get new third-party games or major updates to them, with its users forced to wait weeks, months, or even years for releases that players on other platforms can experience far sooner.
A famous example of this came early last year with Palworld, Pocketpair's Pokémon-inspired open-world creature capture RPG that took the gaming world by storm for months. What should have been a colossal and easy win for Microsoft and Xbox Game Pass instead became a controversy, with players on Xbox and the Microsoft Store bemoaning the fact that slow update certification was preventing Pocketpair from quickly adding major features that Steam players were already enjoying.
Without knowing more information, it's impossible to say if something similar was happening with Berserk Boy or if another issue was impeding its Xbox development progress. Regardless, this is yet another case of Xbox finishing last and its users missing out on a fun game everyone else now has access to, all because of hitches in Microsoft's publishing pipeline. I hope the firm is able to address whatever's going on here sooner rather than later.
I'll end on a positive note: Berserk Boy has a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, with 90% of its reviews giving it a blue thumbs up. It looks like a fantastic platformer to dive into if you're a fan of the speedy action in classics like Mega Man and Sonic, and the inclusion of Metroidvania elements should spice things up, too. It's definitely one to look forward to if you're an Xbox player, and while it's normally $20, I should note that you can pick it up on PC for just $16.40 at Fanatical right now thanks to a nice deal.
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