Minecraft is one of the biggest games in the world so it would make sense that the title would continue to be available on newer platforms, though it seems like PS5 is the exception. According to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, the reason Minecraft doesn’t have a native PS5 version is because Sony didn’t provide the company with the necessary dev kits. Spencer revealed this during its ongoing court case with the US Federal Trade Commission in Microsoft’s proposal to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard.
As reported by IGN, Spencer said Sony could’ve sent PS5 dev kits for Minecraft “just as easy as they sent them to any other publisher.” He added that this put Microsoft at a disadvantage by providing other studios with dev kits while holding them back from Xbox studios working on multi-platform games at the time.
READ MORE – IO Interactive’s Fantasy RPG ‘Project Dragon’ Might be Xbox Exclusive
The FTC bounced back and stated that Microsoft had three years to figure out ways to make a native PS5 version. Spencer replied by stating that it had to look into ways to “maximize the success of Minecraft“, meaning the focus was likely on other platforms that Microsoft could realistically work on during that time period.
It’s entirely possible to play Minecraft on PS5 today via backwards compatibility, though a native PS5 version will all the same visual enhancements and upgrades of the Xbox Series X/S version doesn’t exist at the moment. It’s worth noting that Minecraft Legends, a tactics spin-off of the franchise that released earlier this year, was released on PS5.
In related news, Microsoft revealed that it had considered purchasing Destiny developer Bungie as well as Hitman developer IO Interactive, Sega, Supergiant Games and more studios. More court documents reveal that IO Interactive’s next fantasy RPG, codenamed ‘Project Dragon‘, might be an Xbox console exclusive.
Source: IGN
