During last week’s InsideXbox, Microsoft had the chance to show us The Medium for the first time. Although fans were left discontent with the game announcements, Bloober Team’s new game is a sight for sore eyes. A worthy Xbox Series X exclusive, if we can say so. Why is the game exclusive to the upcoming console though?
While replying to fans’ comments on Twitter, The Medium PR team stated that the game will be an Xbox Series X exclusive title. The reason for this decision is simple. In order for the gameplay mechanics to be working as the team envisions them, they had to cancel the idea of it being available on the current generation. We don’t know what those mechanics are. However, the concept behind the decision seems reasonable. The response reads:
It’s an Xbox Series X console exclusive. The gameplay mechanics we’re creating for The Medium can be fully realized only on a next-gen hardware. The game simply couldn’t work the same way on current-gen platforms.
From what we’ve seen, The Medium includes massive amounts of terraforming. Just by looking at it, we get big Silent Hill vibes with the areas changing from normal to ominous in a split second. Undeniably, current-generation consoles wouldn’t be able to capture all its feelings.
Even though we haven’t seen any gameplay yet, games that focus on exploring and adventure mechanics tend to include more complex gameplay than the rest. Everything will be clear as soon as the Bloober Team is confident enough to show us some gameplay footage.
The Medium has no release date yet but it only makes sense for it to release in late 2020 to early 2021. Both the game and Xbox Series X will benefit greatly from its release on the console.
The official website states that its release date will be Holiday 2020. As a result, we might be looking at the first console seller for Microsoft. Couch gaming does need some more psychological thrillers. As for other platforms, The Medium will also launch on PC on the Xbox Store and Steam
