What you need to know
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits is an independent adventure game developed and published by Ember Lab.
- The game follows Kena, a "Spirit Guide" looking to restore her home and cleanse the corruption surrounding it.
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits first launched on PlayStation consoles and PC (via the Epic Games Store) in September 2021, with a Steam port coming in 2022.
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits is finally coming to Xbox consoles, with the port launching on Aug. 15, 2024.
A former PlayStation console exclusive is finally making its way to Xbox.
Independent studios Ember Lab shared on Monday that the team's first game, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, is launching on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on Aug. 15, 2024. The game first launched on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC (via the Epic Games Store) back in September 2021, with a Steam version following in September 2022. You can check out the brief announcement trailer for the Xbox version below:
Kena: Bridge of Spirits follows the young titular Spirit Guide Kena as she embarks on a quest to save her home from corruption that is creeping in. Along the way, she collects a number of creatures known as Rot, which can aid her with unique abilities.
Is Kena: Bridge of Spirits coming to Xbox Game Pass?
Oftentimes, games (especially indie games) that are ported to a console after initially skipping out will be included in a subscription service, with a game that was previously exclusive to Xbox hardware being included in PlayStation Plus for its PlayStation console debut, or vice-versa. That doesn't seem to be the case here, and it looks like Kena: Bridge of Spirits will not be included in Xbox Game Pass, at least for the foreseeable future.
Preorders for Kena: Bridge of Spirits aren't live quite yet, but it looks like the game will be available for £34.99 on Xbox, or the regional equivalent, with digital and physical versions available. Xbox players will also get exclusive pirate hats for their Rot (as seen in the announcement trailer above), with the game's anniversary update also naturally being included.
Analysis: A long time coming, but neat to see
So many indie games are ported to other platforms just a few months or a little over a year after their initial console-exclusive debuts, so it can sometimes catch me off guard when there's a port that takes a very long time, as is the case here. Kena: Bridge of Spirits will launch on Xbox almost three years after its PlayStation debut, but still I'm glad the team has taken the effort to bring the game elsewhere, and I hope plenty of Xbox players pick it up.
Ember Lab is an independent team on the smaller side. Even so, I can't help but wonder if this news is coming shortly before a sequel announcement either later this year or early next year.
