Zenless Zone Zero has been confirmed to be another time limited PlayStation 5 exclusive.
Sony just released a trailer for Zenless Zone Zero on the PlayStation YouTube channel. At the end of the video is a message:
“PlayStation 5 Console Exclusive
*Also available on PC and mobile. Not available on other consoles until at least 6 months after release date.”
As we had noted previously, Zenless Zone Zero‘s producer Zhenyu Li expressed an interest in bringing the game to Nintendo platforms. In the same case as Genshin Impact, however, expressing that interest did not actually lead to a confirmation of a port to the Switch, or for that matter, to Xbox.
We don’t know if there is any contractual obligation remaining that keeps Genshin Impact tied to PlayStation. MiHoYo, as one of the most successful video game companies today, has more than enough money to build a new team together just to bring the game to the Switch and Xbox, and they may not even need to do that to make it happen.
MiHoYo agreeing to another exclusivity contract for Zenless Zone Zero, in turn, may be a decision they regret. The fact that Genshin Impact was incredibly successful as it was, may have obscured the possibility that they missed out on a lot of income if the game was on the Nintendo Switch, or for that matter, Xbox.
We can understand why MiHoYo signed the deal for Genshin Impact with Sony the first time. They were a newly formed studio with something to prove, and Sony’s offer meant that they would immediately get a lot of help with promotion. Just being tied to PlayStation’s name gave them a lot of visibility and credibility.
But now, PlayStation is not in a particularly good position. We are looking at a year when Sony cancelled a lot of projects, laid off employees across the world, shut down studios, and do not have any major single player games ready for the rest of the financial year.
Third party studios that hitched their ride to Sony have also been burned by their close association as well. Square Enix was forced to publicly confirm their Sony exclusive releases have all failed to meet expectations. Subsequently, they have literally turned their strategy around to release safer games, that are more likely to be profitable, to as many platforms as possible.
In the case of Shift Up, they were able to leverage the success of Stellar Blade to a successful IPO, but that seemed to be more about PR than the actual numbers. Shift Up’s profits from their mobile games, Destiny Child and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE far outstrips what they made on Stellar Blade.
MiHoYo is likely to also see a profitable six months, but they and Shift Up are likely to look vulnerable, when a similar mobile game company makes the transition to console, and sees more success with a true multiplatform release. But surely, they themselves are wondering right now if they are missing out.
