When LawBreakers was originally announced, it was set to release in 2016 for PC. Fast forward a year later and that release has been pushed to this August with the team shooter now launching on PlayStation 4 and PC. Many Xbox fans felt slighted by this considering LawBreakers Director Cliff Bleszinski created the Xbox exclusive Gears of War series. While Bleszinski has stated multiple times on Twitter that the studio would not rule out an eventual Xbox One release at some point in the future, he clarified his decision to release it on PlayStation 4 first in an interview with IGN.
“Xbox fanboys got really salty at me on Twitter, like, ‘It’s like you’re turning your back on the box that built your career with Gears. And I’m like, not necessarily, because my first priority to me is my employees. I have 65 employees, many of whom have families, and I need to keep the lights on. When we looked at the fact that we could only ship on one console initially, PlayStation has the huge install base. That doesn’t mean that we can’t do an Xbox version later, or Xbox XOXO, or whatever they’re calling it these days. I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Bleszinski.
It’s clear that the decision was made with the livelihood of the studio’s employees in mind and was not meant to snub Xbox as some fans have assumed. The PlayStation 4’s install base has recently topped over 60 million, more than double the estimated amount of Xbox One consoles sold. If you need to choose one console to develop the game on initially, the math speaks for itself.
A closed PC beta will begin on June 28 for current keyholders and will transition into an open beta on June 30. Players can sign up for the beta here, although the specific dates for PlayStation 4’s beta test are unknown.
LawBreakers is scheduled to release on August 8, 2017 for PlayStation 4 and PC.
