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Xbox Live’s Strict Policies Delay Kingdom Under Fire II
Another MMO is suffering due to Microsoft’s unyielding online policy. Kingdom Under Fire II is being pushed back to a holiday 2011 release at the earliest.
According to game director Sang Youn-Lee, the game was primarily being developed with the 360 version at first. "We actually have completed the system,” Youn-Lee explains, “but because of the policy, we felt that if we kept developing [the 360 version] the PC version would have come out too late."
Sejunh Kim, CEO of co-developer Blueside, asserts that the shift in focus doesn’t mean the 360 version is being abandoned. Kim says that the 360 version has an established fanbase, and that “It's very difficult not to develop a version of KUFII on Xbox 360. That's why Microsoft wants to have Kingdom Under Fire II.”
Kim claims that Microsoft has a “very strict” Xbox Live policy that is tough to change. He reveals that his company is in talks with Microsoft regarding KUFII’s billing, and he’s also trying to get some policy changes made.
As stated earlier, other MMO developers have had issues with Microsoft’s online policy. Cryptic was forced to ditch its fully functional 360 version of Champions Online earlier this year. Console MMORPG pioneer Square Enix is even hitting obstacles with Final Fantasy XIV due to the same problems.
Source: Eurogamer
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