We don’t know yet when No Rest for the Wicked, from Moon Studios, will officially release. The top-down action RPG is available in early access on Steam, but while it’ll be available on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, they’re skipping Xbox on launch day.
Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has clarified that No Rest for the Wicked will be available on all platforms at some point, PS5 makes the “most sense” at the moment.
It’s disappointing news for Xbox fans but what does it say when a studio deprioritizes Xbox at release? More importantly, what does it say about Xbox’s standing in the gaming industry right now?
A Growing Pattern
Moon Studios’ reasoning that the PS5 makes “most sense” may sound infuriating for those who prefer Xbox, but it’s actually part of a growing trend. Developers are making the call to delay or skip Xbox versions of games due to exclusivity deals, resources being tight or a working relationship with Microsoft falls apart. Whether it’s Black Myth: Wukong, Entoria: The Last Song, or now No Rest for the Wicked, Xbox is sometimes the odd one out.
Hardware sales are probably a part of the problem. Xbox Series X|S has moved around 32 million units globally, trailing behind the PS5’s 75 million units. U.S. sales are at historic lows and other regions like Japan and Europe also report low sales.
For a platform that once proudly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with PlayStation, that’s a brutal decline.
It’s Not Just About Consoles Anymore
To be fair, Microsoft has been clear that their priorities have changed. The company wants to reinvent Xbox as a services brand and a gaming platform. With 37 million Game Pass subscribers, investing more in PC and cloud gaming, Xbox is thriving in areas beyond the console.
Xbox is no longer betting everything on outselling Sony or Nintendo in the hardware race. They want you in their gaming world, whether you play on a console, PC, handheld, or even a rival system.
In other words, Xbox is trying to become the Netflix of gaming. But not everyone’s on board with that shift.
Why Developers Are Pulling Back
From a developer’s perspective, Xbox’s strategy creates uncertainty. It’s hard to justify pouring resources into a console port when:
- Xbox’s install base is smaller than PlayStation’s.
- Xbox players are more likely to wait for a Game Pass release.
- Microsoft seems less invested in console-first messaging than ever before.
For some publishers, Xbox might not be the best place to launch first, especially for smaller studios trying to maximize early revenue. When Microsoft itself is publishing its games on PlayStation and Switch, it’s not surprising to see third-party devs follow suit.
There is another potential possibility: Microsoft announced their next console is expected to release in 2027. Their goal is for the console to run on software more like Windows, trying to make Windows the largest gaming platform. Developers might wait until the console launches. The development should be easier if the new console software is Windows-ish.
Is Xbox Losing Relevance?
It depends on what you mean by “relevance.” In the traditional console market? Yeah, Xbox is struggling and for the fans who want to see more games available on launch day, Microsoft isn’t keeping up.
Despite their current struggles, they’re investing in massive first-party IPs like Call of Duty and Minecraft. It’s clear that Microsoft is hoping to redefine what a gaming “platform” even means.
The console might be taking a back seat, but the Xbox ecosystem is still very much in motion. This shift may alienate console purists, but it’s also shaping the future of the industry.
That means gamers need to adjust their expectations. Developers will have to decide which platform is the best one to prioritize on launch day. And Xbox is betting big on a future where where you play matters less than how you play.
