LogInHAAK's creators couldn't register a Microsoft account due to bugs.
HAAK, a Metroidvania from Blingame set in a cyber-wasteland, is not coming to Xbox. You might think it's because of money or disagreements with publishers, but the reality is simpler and more complicated at the same time.
On its X/Twitter, Blingame apologized for failing to meet Xbox players' expectations, but it just couldn't register a Microsoft Partner account due to numerous bugs in the platform and the support service.
Blingame
"In reality, porting the Xbox version of our game would have taken less than two weeks, but we spent over 14 months trying to 'apply for game publication' and 'complete Microsoft Partner identity registration.' This experience has been terrible because we can feel the enthusiasm from the Xbox community players, yet we struggle to resolve the problems at hand."
Unfortunately, Blingame "can't afford to wait any longer," so the Xbox release has been canceled.
While Microsoft later contacted the studio and apologized for the issues, the developers decided to let the Xbox version rest in peace, saying that waiting for Microsoft's responses "indefinitely" is "inefficient," and Blingame expects it to happen regularly.
A lot of developers face these problems with the platform and have to wait months (in Blingame's case, 14 months) without saying anything, and this is one of the issues, in the studio's opinion.
Blingame
"Most people prefer to view problems existing in these systems or processes as 'only happening to a very few people,' 'occurring by chance,' or 'because the person who discovered the problem is a fool,' and try to avoid facing and solving the actual problems by 'dealing with the person who discovered the problem.' This ultimately leads to problems being habitually ignored, causing bigger troubles in the future.
"The biggest question is, why haven't all the backend errors we reported to Xbox about back in April 2024 been resolved until now?"
Blingame
So no Xbox release, but you can find HAAK, a hand-drawn platformer where you're looking for your lost brother in a world "ravaged by disaster," on PC, Nintendo Switch, and smartphones. The PS5 version is developing smoothly as well.
"The once glorious city has been reduced to ruins, and the survivors struggle for survival. In the south, a land called Sanho has mostly remained unaffected by the calamity due to its unique geographical environment and has grown into something of a sanctuary. The protagonist, Haak, is a traveler from a small northern town. He chose to leave his home and ventured south to survive."
Blingame
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