The founder of Moon Studios, the studio that developed the Ori video game series, has criticized both Microsoft and the console wars for stifling innovation. Both games in the Ori series, Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, are 2D Metroidvania platform video games. 2020's Ori and the Will of the Wisps seems to be the final game where the titular character appears, despite the studio's past hope for Ori appearing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Moon Studios' Thomas Mahler has voiced his opinions about the gaming industry before. In a now-viral rant posted to ResetEra this past February, the Ori developer had called out developers who overpromised and then underdelivered on their games' quality and performance. In his rant, he specifically cited Cyberpunk 2077 and No Man’s Sky, games that were riddled with bugs. Mahler's rant brought to light an interesting perspective: big-name developers that generate and encourage hype for unreleased games are often forgiven for its games not living up to their perceived potential. This rightly frustrates indie studios that do not have the same marketing budget and exposure for its games, even if those games are hailed by critics as masterpieces. A day after his rant, the Ori developer issued an apology and walked back on his statements.

Related: Ori and the Blind Forest Runs Better on Switch Than on Xbox

Now Thomas Mahler is once more in the news thanks to a new post on ResetEra in which he laments the missed opportunity for innovation due to Microsoft's exclusivity and the console wars. As reported by eXputer, Mahler's post is in response to an interview that Axios did with Microsoft's Phil Spencer regarding video game developer Bungie's departure. Moon Studios' founder disagrees with talks about how Microsoft could have held on to Bungie today, and he believes that Bungie departed due to its want to develop games for a non-exclusive platform. Mahler goes on to say that though Microsoft has a vision of a future in gaming with "no artificial walls, no boundaries," the tech giant is "not necessarily acting accordingly." Microsoft allowed Moon Studios' Ori and the Will of the Wisps to be ported to Nintendo's Switch, but Mahler argues that Microsoft likely did that because "the title was small enough to not cause any fuss."

Ori and the Will of Wisps Wallpaper

In his post, Ori developer Mahler explains this was one of the reasons why Moon Studios decided to make its next game with Private Division instead of Microsoft. Fans of Ori had mentioned to him that they were disappointed that they couldn't play the game on Sony's PlayStation because it was funded by Microsoft, a competitor of Sony. It seems that Microsoft is now open to some form of a joint ecosystem, evidenced by its support towards the PC market and its Game Pass service. However, Mahler would like to see Microsoft commit completely to its vision.

Though Microsoft committing fully to a joint eco-system remains to be seen, there have been hopeful rumors in the past, like the Xbox Game Pass coming to Nintendo's Switch. Hopefully, the future in gaming will be similar to the developer of Ori's vision: a future where fans can play any game on any platform.

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Source: eXputer