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Platinum Games wanted to take The Wonderful 101: Remastered to the Xbox One as well as the Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4, but there are two technicalities that stand in the way (via Gematsu).
The developer spoke to Gematsu on the runaway success of the remaster, and why crowdfunding was the best approach to achieve its ambition. “Well the actual reason we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign was not for funding at all, it was more about gauging interest in The Wonderful 101,” replied executive vice president and studio head Atsushi Inaba. “This is a game we’ve always wanted to revisit at some point in time, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the fans together—to unite them—and gauge interest. And in essence, to release the game. So it wasn’t really about the amount of funding at all, it was about self-publishing, bringing fans together, and revisiting The Wonderful 101.”
The Xbox One was originally included as a stretch goal, but this was missing when The Wonderful 101: Remastered Kickstarter campaign went live. Platinum Games did not intend to backtrack on this goal, and said that the differences between the Wii U and the Xbox One are too great. “But the fact of the matter was that the original engine for the game and the engine for the Xbox One are very different, and it’s not easy to port like the other systems. So as a result of that, unfortunately and regrettably, we had to relinquish the Xbox One release,” explained senior vice president and game designer Hideki Kamiya.
That isn’t to say it is impossible, though. “I don’t want to say it will never happen. If the right things come together and we get enough money, it might be possible, but it’s just an expensive thing to do. We did want to do it—it’s purely for that reason that we couldn’t,” said Inaba. The Wonderful 101: Remastered has raised over £1.49 million from 28,920 supporters, smashing its £39,550 target into smithereens with four days til the end of the campaign.
The Wonderful 101: Remastered touches down on Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC on May 19 in North America and May 22 in Europe.
