Xbox Game Pass has greatly helped Second Extinction find an army of players to reclaim the planet from an invasion of mutated dinosaurs.
Speaking with SegmentNext in a recent interview, game director Simon Vickers stated that finding a core audience from the start was incredibly important for a game like Second Extinction which thrives as a cooperative mission-based experience. Relying on Xbox Game Pass to ensure that the game found its way into the hands of as many players as possible on day one was hence an easy decision to make and one which has since then been bearing fruit.
“Very happy! We knew we had something fun on our hands, but being a small team we didn’t know how much of a splash we could make,” said Vickers when asked about the response and sales.
“Luckily we found that core audience on PC, then releasing on Xbox and Game Pass was like opening the flood gates. So much of what makes our game stand out is how it feels to play, so getting it into players’ hands is the most crucial step for us, and Game Pass knocks down the price wall for people to do that.
“We recently hit over 1 million unique players two weeks after our Xbox launch, and that can’t help but give me the warm and fuzzies.”
Vickers was also all praise for the Xbox Series X hardware which he called “a silky smooth dream” for not forcing developers to make compromises.
“With cross-play on the horizon, parity with PC is a must, and we didn’t want to have to change the fundamental parts of our game to make that happen, and luckily we didn’t!”
Note that Second Extinction has previously been confirmed to be receiving cross-play as part of its roadmap which runs through November. The developer intends to deliver on that promise before the 2021 holiday season commences.
Systemic Reaction is still not willing to comment on the console exclusivity of its prehistoric shooter. The developer remains “fully dedicated to supporting Second Extinction for a good while to come” and “working with the community during Early Access/Game Preview and beyond.” If there really are plans for a PlayStation release, the developer is not willing to hint them for the time being.
Second Extinction (its Game Preview) is currently available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass, and on PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store. A full launch is expected to take place somewhere in 2022.
