Summary
- Haak, a popular Metroidvania indie game, will not be released on Xbox due to numerous obstacles faced by developers.
- After struggling with bugs and support issues on Microsoft platforms, the developers have been forced to abandon releasing Haak on Xbox.
The developers of Haak, a popular Metroidvania indie game on Steam, have announced the cancelation of its planned Xbox platform releases. According to the developers, they had run into numerous obstacles in submitting the game to Xbox. As a result, despite its demand for a release on the platform, Haak will be skipping Xbox platforms, much to the developer's disappointment.
Haak is an indie Metroidvania game that was first released in August 2022. Developed by Blingame and published by OKJOY, Haak takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, ravaged by a disaster. The protagonist, the titular Haak, has set out to travel from his northern hometown to the south in order to survive. Haak has all the Metroidvania hallmarks, being an action-adventure platformer that has the player exploring a variety of rooms, using their laser sword and hook to maneuver around the world. These positive qualities have garnered Haak "very positive" reviews on Steam, and there were plans to expand its platforms, with Xbox being one of them. However, these plans have fallen through.
One of 2024's Best Metroidvanias May Be Coming to Consoles
Some newly surfaced evidence indicates that one of the best metroidvania games of 2024 will soon be making its way from PC to consoles.
In a recent post from the game's official Twitter account, the developers apologized for Haak not coming to Xbox platforms. According to the developers, they encountered numerous obstacles when submitting the game. The first of which were many bugs in the Microsoft Partner Center, preventing them from completing account registration. Microsoft's support service also had numerous bugs, which made it impossible to inquire about solutions to their problems. The Xbox support team was also apparently unable to assist, as it fell out of its scope and it was strictly a Microsoft issue.
Haak's Struggles with Microsoft and Xbox
The developers note that porting an Xbox version of Haak would have taken less than two weeks, but they spent over 14 months in order to apply for the game's publication and complete the Microsoft Partner identity registration. The experience has been such a huge struggle for the developers that, despite the enthusiasm Xbox fans have given them for Haak, their development funds are incredibly tight. As such, after several months of issues, the developers have been forced to abandon the release of the Metroidvania on Xbox platforms.
Fellow indie developer Mad Fellows commented on the situation, noting that it didn't have as many issues developing for Xbox, but the delays can make things stressful. The Haak Twitter account bluntly replied that this incident was one of the worst publishing processes the developers experienced, where they didn't encounter the same amount of issues when publishing on other platforms. When asked about how the PS5 version was coming along, the developers stated it was proceeding relatively smoothly. While this game is skipping Xbox, Haak is a Metroidvania game currently available on Switch, mobile devices, and PC.
- Brand
- Microsoft
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Hardware Versions
- Xbox Series X
- Original MSRP (USD)
- $499
- Weight
- 9.8 LBS
- Operating System
- Proprietary (Windows-based)
Microsoft's ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X is a powerful machine that can support 4K resolution and 60 fps, depending on the game. Released alongside the Xbox Series S, the Series X has a Custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, a Custom RDNA 2 GPU, and 16 GB of RAM.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info