Phil Spencer: Minecraft Doesn't Have PS5 Version Because Sony Didn't Send Mojang PS5 Dev Kits - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 July 2023 / 11,363 Views
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer while being cross-examined by the FTC counsel during the FTC vs Microsoft hearing today was asked why there is no PlayStation 5 version of Minecraft and he said Sony did not send Mojang PS5 development kits.
"Sony was reluctant to send us development kits for the PlayStation 5 at the same time they were sending them to other developers, which put us at a disadvantage relative to other developers," said Spencer. "I think Sony could have sent the development kits to Microsoft just as easy as they sent them to any other publisher."
It should be noted Minecraft is playable on the PS5 using the PS4 version of the game and the Xbox Series X|S also doesn't have an optimized version of the game.
Microsoft at one point had considered shipping Minecraft Dungeons only on Xbox One and PC, however, the game would end up also releasing on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.
Thanks, IGN.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Pretty ridiculous to not give them dev kit. There is a 100% chance that Microsoft had access to PS5 dev kits within a couple of days of them getting in the hands of the first third party developer. The same is true the other way around. These companies are giants, with tons of relationships. They wouldn't have any problem at all getting their hands on those dev kits. Sony withholding them, or the other way around, wouldn't make any sense.
Microsoft has PS5 dev kits. Deathloop would be impossible otherwise.
Oh shit, I had forgotten that game.
Could be a legalese/sharing thing. Maybe Bethesda can't share stuff like that. IDK, feels like a plausible answer.
This was my first thought in regards to the idea of some microsoft developer/subsidiary having a PS5 development kit
Microsoft likely has PS5 dev kits by now. The testimony was about whether they had them in 2020 or not.
The article is about why Minecraft has no PS5 version now. The comment about 2020 is a diversion tactic. PS5 ports don't need three years. MS has the capability to make a PS5 version of Minecraft.
Yes, Microsoft could make a PS5-specific version of Minecraft. But why would they when A) the PS4 version runs great on PS5, and B) Mojang also haven't got around to doing one for Xbox Series yet?
I don't think it was a diversion tactic, I think Spencer didn't anticipate the question and that was his (accurate) off-the cuff answer. I agree with you that it wasn't the best answer, though. The best answer is that they haven't done a version for any of the current-gen home consoles yet, including their own.
They would have them now.
But this would have been before the PS5 launched.
Microsoft has also got more than 1 developer, so the dev-kit for Deathloop wouldn't be able to be used for Minecraft.
Which other Microsoft studios are using that PS5 dev kit?
The PS4 version was ported by 4J Studios, an independent contractor. Same one who did the Nintendo Switch port. So MS could either hire 4J again or send the Minecraft code base to Arkane and have a small group of them port the game.
Moving dev kits around from one studio to another would be a breach of contracts or would require the approval of Sony themselves.
And why couldn't either Arkane or the original outside contractor of the PS4 version (4J Studios) not port the game?
It would not have change anything to the current situation. Also why would Xbox be the one to have the burden to circumvent the whims of their direct competitor?
Nowhere in the testimony does Microsoft assert that they do not, in 2023, have PS5 dev kits. So I'm not sure what your point is.
The point is why Minecraft is not on PS5 in 2023. The PS4 version was ported by 4J Studios, so either the same company could do the PS5 port or Microsoft could have given Arkane access to the Minecraft source code. Given the fact that Microsoft also owns GitHub, they all use GitHub Enterprises anyway, so the process is easy.
IMO, that's not a good point. Asking why there's no PS5-specific version of Minecraft when there's also not an Xbox Series-specific version isn't a killer point in court, given the reason why the FTC brought it up.
A better question would be why there was no PS5 version of Psychonauts 2 when there WAS an Xbox Series-specific version of that game.
And whenever someone talks about how easy it is to port something, it's usually by someone who isn't a full-time developer. If it was as easy as you suggest, why haven't they done it for PS5 and Xbox Series both? My supposition is that the devil's in the details and it's likely harder than it sounds.
Have kinda wondered why the didn’t release optimised versions for either the Series X or OS5.
And why doesn't it have a Series X version?
Clearly because MS didn't send Mojang Xbox Series dev kits either....
What about the whole ray traced mince craft they were showing off? That didn't release on series x/s?
Minecraft Ray Tracing is on PC.
But requires specific ray tracing compatible packs.
You can actually play Minecraft Ray Tracing on Xbox Series X, but requires a PC with Ray Tracing as a host and you need to be an Xbox insider.
Because the Xbox One version runs great on Xbox Series consoles. And because Mojang is maintining 20-some-odd versions, so rewriting the whole game into native Xbox Series code adds more complexity. They'll likely do it at some point, but they're not in a hurry I guess. And since the Xbox One version runs great on Series X|S, why bother?
The one thing they could (and IMO, maybe should) do is make is a back-compat+ title. And maybe they have, I haven't checked for that.
"maintining 20-some-odd versions, so rewriting the whole game into native Xbox Series code adds more complexity" WTF? All Microsoft consoles are just running Windows. "rewriting the whole game" to make a native SXS version is just wrong. Microsoft is maintaining exactly two versions of Minecraft: The original Java version that's popular by modders on PC and a C++ that has its origins in Minecraft Pocket Edition and shares the source code with Xbox 360/One, Switch, iOS, and PS4 versions. The C++ lineage is called Bedrock Edition.
All Xbox consoles are running variations on Windows/Microsoft's APIs. But they're not full Windows. The Xbox Series consoles are the firs t Xbox consoles that can actually run a PC game with minimal alteration, but games that do that underperform.
To get the best performance, you want to create native Xbox Series code.
Are you suggesting that there's no difference in the code base between the Switch and the Xbox and the PS and the PC versions of Minecraft Bedrock? If so, I believe that's not correct.
‘All Microsoft consoles are running Windows’… first of all it is a subset of Windows and second there are some specific API and optimization for each console. They are definitely NOT all running Windows lol
Or do you pretend that all those studios having 2 versions of the games and taking sometime months and years to make the version run perfectly on the next generation have no idea what they are doing but you do? (Which is basically all gross platform games)
No they do not need to rewrite everything obviously and yes the base code is probably 90/95% the same but it is not just about opening the project in VS and just hitting compile.
There are also a lot of ‘checkboxes’ they need to check to be approved for the new platforms, not even including the QA etc…
You have such a simplistic and frankly erroneous understanding of how this works :)
Zenimax online does for ESO?
Is this a big deal? The PS5 is backwards compatible, Minecraft should work with no issue by using the PS4 version.
The article states that that is indeed the case.
I know, but considering MS is using it against Sony in the Acti-Blizz buyout, saying they didn't have the development kits is not as good of an argument as they thought.
Its not Ms using this against Sony its the FTC asking "Why the is no PS5 version of minecraft" But it seems its the FTC's argument that wasnt well thought out as the also is no XBSX version and the PS4 version works on PS5 so the argument is a mute point.
It's not a moot point when Microsoft is arguing for the takeover by saying that Call of Duty will be treated like Minecraft and Minecraft isn't out for PS5 in any other form than backwards compatibility.
Its a mute point as the is no current gen version for xbox also. Your other point about CoD is pretty much pointless.
It is a moot point lol
The FTC cannot argue that Microsoft may (cause so far it is never the case, even Minecraft does not have Series X version) build inferior version of a game if at the end Sony will not provide a dev kit to the studio. That makes no sense to argue.
And no, studios without the Xbox family cannot just trade their dev kit like a lot of people seem to believe, they have a contract with Sony about confidentiality (by studio) and they cannot just hand it to another one like that.
You may question Sony on the fact that they send it to one Xbox studio and not the other. But saying that just because another studio has the dev kit, et et Xbox studio has access to it is wrong.
The FTC is using it… Not Microsoft.
The FTC are the one who asked the question and Microsoft simply answered.
Sorry but that sounds like absolute BS saying there is no PS5 version because they don’t have dev kits. What the excuse for not doing the X S versions then?
Quit pointing the finger at Sony and instead blame your developers for focussing on things like signs and texture packs rather than making a current gen version.
if thats the case hows he explain Minecraft Legends being released on PS5 ?
They're talking about pre-release of the PS5 time period. Before the PS5 was released to the public in Nov 2020, not afterwards
Sony didn't want to send Mojang the PS5 dev kits early like other publishers because Sony didn't want Microsoft to know more about the PS5 capabilities before the PS5 is released. Because Sony didn't want MS to counteract with adding capabilities to the Series consoles
After the PS5 is released and everybody knows its capabilities, there's no more reason for Sony to hold up the PS5 dev kits from anybody
But with the next PS6, Sony is going to do it all over again and hold up the PS6 dev kits, including to (if) MS-owned Activision. Ironically, by doing that, Jim Ryan will be self-fulfilling his own prophecy - the Call of Duty PS6 version could be worse than Xbox simply because Sony will be late sending them the PS6 dev kits
Sony being childish and spiteful isn't exactly anything new.
