While High on Life 2 and its predecessor both had substantial Xbox Game Pass deals, developer Squanch Games still sees PlayStation as the primary platform for the series.
“That was a no-brainer, like our lead platform is Sony, Steam is right behind it as far as units sold,” Squanch Games CEO Mike Fridley said of the simultaneous PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC launch for High on Life 2 in an interview with TechRadar. “Shockingly, even after a delay on the Sony launch [on PS4 and PS5]–because of an exclusivity clause with the first game that Microsoft had–it’s [PlayStation] still our lead platform,” he said elsewhere in the interview.
That’s surprising when you consider the High on Life games’ connection to the Xbox platform and Xbox Game Pass. High on Life was released on Game Pass and as a timed Xbox Series X|S console exclusive in December 2022 before coming to PS4 and PS5 seven months later. Meanwhile, High on Life 2 launched simultaneously on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 on February 13, with the Xbox and PC versions being available through the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier.
“If you’re a PlayStation player, you’re going to buy it on PlayStation,” he explained. “You’re not going to play it on Game Pass, and with the recent subscription increase on Game Pass, I’m sure they’ve probably seen subscriber numbers go down a bit; so those people have to play it somewhere.”
It seems harder and harder for developers to justify Xbox as their lead platform if you’re not a first-party Xbox studio. A recent report said developers seemingly don’t want to make Xbox games much any more.
High on Life 2 is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version launching on April 20.