Absolum devs: "Xbox just wasn't a priority and it is not in our plans for this title."

Heisenberg007

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Absolum is the indie sleeper hit of 2025, but it seems like devs won't be releasing it on Xbox.

Responding to a query in Discord, the Community Manager responded:

"The team behind Absolum are about as small as our in-game resistance movement. Because of the team size (as with all similar titles), we have to prioritize here and there. It's pretty rare for us to release on every platform and in this case, Xbox just wasn't a priority and it's not in our plans for this title."
Absolum was released on October 9, 2025 on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows, and has been making waves with excellent critics and user review scores.

It currently has a Metacritic score of 87, Opencritic score of 87 with 99% critics recommendation, and a Steam user review score of 87%.

 
This is a pretty common refrain for indie devs and a lot of mid-tier studios at this point - I've talked to so many that don't want to bother with the Xbox. If they aren't getting a Game Pass deal, it literally isn't worth the effort due to terrible sales for these types of titles. Xbox absolutely squandered every opportunity around this market that they used to dominate.
 
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Not surprised. If the game is popular enough then I wouldn't be surprised if Xbox gave them incentive to port it.

No Rest for the Wicked is doing the same thing btw. It will become more common over the next couple years and Xbox will have start paying devs left and right for support which is obviously unsustainable.
 
Bernkastel said:
117 million PS4 sold. Thats huge install base. Also, the upcoming handheld will definitely play all PS4 games.
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Yup. PS4 sold more than Xbox One and Series X|S put together. Wouldn't surprise me if there were more active PS4s than active Xbox users overall either.

For indie games especially, targeting Xbox makes no sense when that entire user base has been trained that indie games are something you play for "free" on Game Pass.
 
well xbox moneyhatted Deep Rock Galactic Survivor from coming to PS, and that studio did get lots of money.. so I understand why Indies want that Gamepass money :D
 
Gilgalaad said:
It's awful.

Jezusss… save the Xbox!
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beyonce knowles GIF
 
Danny Dudekisser said:
This is a pretty common refrain for indie devs and a lot of mid-tier studios at this point - I've talked to so many that don't want to bother with the Xbox. If they aren't getting a Game Pass deal, it literally isn't worth the effort due to terrible sales for these types of titles. Xbox absolutely squandered every opportunity around this market that they used to dominate.
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You have to be in the ID@Xbox program for indies to secure Gamepass deals. If a game isn't in development pipeline or published on Xbox, why would Xbox give them a deal? So it's a flawed logic.
 
Heisenberg007 said:
Yeah, but it's interesting that they released on PS4 but not on Xbox Series X | S
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How is that interesting? I would assume that if you've already developed a PS5 version of a game, it's quite a lot easier to support the PS4 than it is to release the game on the Xbox. I don't think the business case for the Xbox is there. Especially if they don't have anyone on their team with the right skill set or if they do not have the time and resources to do the port.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
I had totally forgotten about that one.

Pretty good game!
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Well yeah it's unique, for those who don't have a beefy PC, or a Playstation, you are relegated to watching walkthroughs...(seemed quite an atmospheric game as well, despite no NPCs, could also easily work as a Ghostbusters game..)
 
I wonder if Microsoft uses terms "engagement and exposure" in lieu of a big sum of money when talking to indie developers. Meanwhile your sales will be in the toilet, so the engagment and exposure killed you.

To be fair I guess that might be exposure that you may not otherwise get. Might give you a name and have people looking for your next game.

Microsoft must have paid a fortune for Hollow Knight 2. Probably covered all development costs and then some after all is said and done.
 
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Devs had no idea gamepass prices were rising. Too bad for them.

Now that everyone has unsubscribed to gamepass, I see a massive demand for game purchases on the platform.

Floodgates for xbox ports should open up soon enough.
 
Jetpac said:
Another day another "insert random no name game" for gaf to say "teh microbes is dead"


Next.
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Every podcast I hear is shitting feathers with this game. My friend that follows no media talked to me about it just yesterday, a few days away from its release.

But random no name game.

Jack Black Yes GIF

vaibhavpisal said:
Devs had no idea gamepass prices were rising. Too bad for them.

Now that everyone has unsubscribed to gamepass, I see a massive demand for game purchases on the platform.

Floodgates for xbox ports should open up soon enough.
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This is a parody account, right guys? RIGHT?
 
Japanese games aren't coming to Xbox > Microsoft starts paying and funding Japanese games to come to the system > Microsoft decides stop paying for this > Japanese games decide to start skipping the Xbox again

Indie games aren't coming to Xbox > Microsoft starts paying and funding Indie games to come to the system > Microsoft decides stop paying for this > Indie games decide to start skipping the Xbox again

It seems to me that unless you are a AAA release or First Party title not being incentivized to release on Xbox is a good enough reason to not bother porting their games to the system.
 
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vaibhavpisal said:
Devs had no idea gamepass prices were rising. Too bad for them.

Now that everyone has unsubscribed to gamepass, I see a massive demand for game purchases on the platform.

Floodgates for xbox ports should open up soon enough.
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People who aren't willing to pay $10 p/m extra for a subscription they were already accustomed to will suddenly start spending $30, $40, $70 extra every month on games?
 
That's a shame I thought it would be on Xbox like streets of rage 4 and Shinobi. I put too many hours in streets of rage 4 on game pass and I bought it after. Even though it has good ratings it doesn't mean a lot of people heard of it. I didn't hear about it until I saw Mick Gordon showed his song he collaborated on for this on Instagram.
 
Bernkastel said:
117 million PS4 sold. Thats huge install base. Also, the upcoming handheld will definitely play all PS4 games.
Click to expand...

Who buys new games on PS4 aside from FIFA/COD/Fortnite mtx? It was a mistake on the developers part to release on PS4 tbh. Those resources should have gone into an Xbox Series port. Even Atelier games don't release on PS4 outside of Japan anymore.

But I'm not surprised by this instance. The developers are French and Xbox is almost as unpopular there as in Japan.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
People who aren't willing to pay $10 p/m extra for a subscription they were already accustomed to will suddenly start spending $30, $40, $70 extra every month on games?
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Why do you assume people will buy new games every month? The allure of Game Pass was the access to many games for a low price. If the price isn't low anymore, the attraction is gone and people will go back to buying games. But I suspect most of the Game Pass audience weren't buying a new full priced game every month before Game Pass arrived and they won't start doing that if they stop using Game Pass again.
 
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memoryman3 said:
Who buys new games on PS4 aside from FIFA/COD/Fortnite mtx? It was a mistake on the developers part to release on PS4 tbh. Those resources should have gone into an Xbox Series port. Even Atelier games don't release on PS4 outside of Japan anymore.

But I'm not surprised by this instance. The developers are French and Xbox is almost as unpopular there as in Japan.
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Not seen numbers, but one would not think that "install base" is active and buying new indies, but instead playing the games you mentioned.
 
TBiddy said:
Why do you assume people will buy new games every month? The allure of Game Pass was the access to many games for a low price. If the price isn't low anymore, the attraction is gone and people will go back to buying games. But I suspect most of the Game Pass audience weren't buying a new full priced game every month before Game Pass arrived and they won't start doing that if they stop using Game Pass again.
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Consumer habits get set. I don't see any meaningful increase in games purchases on Xbox, even if they cancel Game Pass.

The trust deficient in the Xbox console library is another factor that will prevent people into buying games.
 
memoryman3 said:
Who buys new games on PS4 aside from FIFA/COD/Fortnite mtx?
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People who own a PS4.
memoryman3 said:
It was a mistake on the developers part to release on PS4 tbh. Those resources should have gone into an Xbox Series port. Even Atelier games don't release on PS4 outside of Japan anymore.
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I will say it again. 117 million install base. And yes unlike the Game Pass Machine, people there do buy games.
memoryman3 said:
But I'm not surprised by this instance. The developers are French and Xbox is almost as unpopular there as in Japan.
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You mean every region outside the US.
 


That adds context, Xbox is pretty much going digital.

vaibhavpisal said:
Players will spend on something, right?

Or will they just cancel gamepass, then sit twiddling thumbs?
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No, you see, they will all buy $750 PS5 Pro Consoles, subscribe to PS+ Premium and then still buy new games at full price. I'm told, that's how every human gamer should be doing.
 
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Tobimacoss said:
No, you see, they will all buy $750 PS5 Pro Consoles, subscribe to PS+ Premium and then still buy new games at full price.
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You suggesting they buy the much weaker $800 Xbox Series X, not pay $160 yearly for PS+ Premium, instead pay $360 yearly for GamePass and still buy all the games that don't release on GP at full price, assuming those games release on Xbox at all?
 
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