Microsoft subsidies Namco Bandai to develop Tales of Vesperia on PS3?

A Japanese developer recently blog that Microsoft did pay Namco Bandai a significant amount of money to obtain an exclusive for Tales of Vesperia.
Developing in Xbox 360 is easier than PS3, add another payout from Microsoft, Namco Bandai can significantly lower its development cost. But since Tales of Vesperia didn't sell well in Japan, even with lower development cost, Namco still can't break even, so they decided to port it to PS3. But Sony won't allow without getting a lot of extras for PS3 version.

With all development ready, it is cheap to port to PS3. In other words, you can say that Microsoft money was partly used to develop Tales of Vesperia on PS3.

So what's the deal here?
Let's step back for a moment. Microsoft needs Namco Bandai to develop Tales of Vesperia on Xbox 360 and time exclusive to breakthrough Japanese market.
Without money from Microsoft, Namco won't develop it because it's not feasible.

Then the game didn't sell on Xbox 360, Namco didn't recoup the cost. Namco not happy, decided to port to PS3, Namco needs Sony.
Sony, at the otherhand, has a leverage because they have a significant install base in Japan. They push Namco for extras, otherwise forget it.
So everybody has his own agenda, and in the end, it is just business.

Related Posts :