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Is The Witness Coming To Consoles?

Contrary to earlier reports, our recent interview with Jonathan Blow suggests a console version may be in the cards.

A few months back, console gamers were hit with the unhappy news that The Witness probably wouldn't be headed to consoles. At the time, Blow cited the dated specs of the 360 and PS3, and the financial challenges of making a game on consoles as reasons that the game might only come to PC and iOS.

In a recent interview with Game Informer, game director Jonathan Blow had some new thoughts on the matter. "My current idea is to launch on PC and iOS, and then maybe one of the consoles which has not been decided, and later to bring the game to all other platforms," Blow says. "We can only do a certain number of platforms at launch, because we’re small. A few months ago, I was doing all these interviews, and I didn’t think we were going to do a console at launch. But we’re hiring two more programmers, which has a huge impact on what we can do. So now the idea is open again, that we might do a console launch, but now what exactly that is depends on all sorts of business things that we just haven’t figured out yet."

That's not an absolute confirmation, but it is certainly enough to  give console owners hope that they'll get to play the new release from the maker of Braid. For more on The Witness, make sure and check out issue 225 of Game Informer, in which we have some brand new details and screens from the Witness, as well as more thoughts about the game from Jonathan Blow in our four-page feature on the game.

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Comments
  • Wow, sounds like an excuse TBH. Yeah, consoles have outdated specs, but he could of just put the same game on console with downgraded graphics, ya know it's called a port.
  • I really hope so, this guy really has that creative indie juice.

  • I'll pick it up either way, but I'm usually a fan of consoles over PC as long as the controls hold up.  I just like my couch and big TV when I'm gaming.

  • As long as its primary focus is PC I'm ok with that
  • Mod
    The specs can't be THAT outdated where they can't play this game. I really liked Braid so I'm curious about this game but I highly doubt this'll be that demanding to play.
  • Please bring this game to consoles! Braid sold really well on the consoles. I think it would be a mistake not to. So many potential sales! Everyone should get a chance to play his games. There awesome!

  • I know the consoles are dated and if push comes to shove I can always buy on the PC. But come on? It's not like he's making the most advanced game ever made. I mean, Skyrim, Rage, Mass Effect 3, and Bioshock Infinite are going to run on consoles. What exactly is so mind blowing about the game he's making?
  • It sucks that my favorite XBLA/PSN game is made by such a D-bag.  Oh well, I guess I don't have to like him to like the content he creates.

  • For everyone complaining about the whole his game can't be that demanding

    Try to understand that he has an extremely small development team, one that consists of less people than your average gaming company uses to Port a game from a Console to the PC (6-9ish), which is far easier to do since it's already optimized for lesser tech.

    His team is SMALL, he probably didn't have someone who's a pure code programmer who can dedicate most of his time to debugging and optimizing the code to run more efficiently until recently.

    Beyond the size of his team he strongly dislikes Consoles since he's an artsy type of guy who dislikes the hassle of certification to release his game on XBLA or PSN meanwhile on PC it's far more indie-friendly for him to put his product out there.

    Yes, he may be slightly snooty but there is more to it than that.
  • This game has such a unique concept. I hope I get a chance to test it out.

  • Cool.

  • I'm not a fan of anyone who thinks he is too good for console gamers :\
  • The Witness.....wasn't that a film with Harrison Ford as a cop falling in love with some Amish lass in Philadelphia whilst in hiding from corrupt colleagues? I don't think barn raising is a winner for compelling gameplay.
  • I've never heard of this game, but if it's causing this much of a fuss I might need to check it out.

  • that would be so fantastic, but I'll buy it on PC if it doesn't end up coming to console.

  • I would like to see this come to consoles so more gamers can experience what is sure to be an amazing game :)