Thomas Mahler, CEO of Ori and No Rest for the Wicked developer Moon Studios, has cited ”market conditions” as the reason that an Xbox version of action RPG No Rest for the Wicked is low on the priority list.
Currently, No Rest for the Wicked is only on PC in Early Access, but Moon Studios is working on ports for PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. But an Xbox version may be unlikely.
On Discord, Mahler let people know where priorities lie.
No Rest for the Wicked Xbox Snub Not a ‘Shakedown’
“Btw, given current market conditions, we might only release on PS5 and potentially Switch 2 for the time being. We’ll have to discuss things with MS and see what makes sense for Xbox.”
If that felt a little vague, then you aren’t alone, and speculation as to why led Mahler to hop on over to NeoGAF and deny spurious claims of the move being a shakedown tactic.
“Folks, can we drop the conspiracy theory insanity? If NeoGAF becomes more and more like the purple forum, don’t be surprised if people stop posting here as well. So no, it’s not a shakedown, it’s called common fucking sense.”
Mahler spoke about developing co-op for the game and then dug a little deeper into the Xbox side of things, citing the disparity between the Series X and S models as a big reason for other platforms taking priority.
“Porting to Xbox means porting to Xbox Series X and Series S and that’ll take more time to optimize compared to porting to PS5 and PS5Pro,” Mahler wrote. ”So we’re most likely going to do PS5/PS5Pro first and launch there in order to make fans happy and supply other ports later.”
“That’s literally all there is to it,” Mahler continued. ”And yes, we’ll need to discuss with Xbox and Nintendo what the best strategies are to support their platforms and their features in the best way possible, and that’ll be an ongoing discussion.”
No Rest for the Wicked is Moon Studios first game outside of the acclaimed Ori series. The action RPG sees a plague ravage the shores of Isola Sacra, turning people into monstrous versions of themselves. Players are put in the shoes of a Cerim, a member of a mystical group of holy warriors sworn to eradicate the plague known as the Pestilence.
The game has received a positive response in Early Access since its launch in April 2024. Earlier this year, new quests, enemies, and loot were added in The Breach update.