I Am Alive Dev Claims Mistranslation, Says PC Might Still Happen
The I Am Alive developer who blew off "bitching" PC gamers says he thinks his comments were misconstrued because he's not a native English speaker, and that a PC version of the game may yet happen.
Earlier this week, I Am Alive Creative Director Stanislas Mettra touched a nerve [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114356-I-Am-Alive-Producer-Dismisses-Bitching-PC-Gamers] when he said that Ubisoft had "heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about their being no version of [I Am Alive] for them," but that it was hard to justify the expense involved in making the game because of rampant piracy. Even at a relatively small investment, he said, "If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it."
Not the gentlest way to put it, eh? But in a follow-up email to IncGamers [http://www.incgamers.com/News/29708/i-am-alive-dev-clarifies-pc-stance], Mettra said he thinks something was lost in the translation. "I would really love to see a PC build of the game and I don't think I meant to say 'the game won't happen on PC'," he wrote. "It's probably an English language miscommunication (I am not native English speaker)."
"What I meant is that the PC version did not happen yet [sic]. But we are still working to see the feasibility of it, which is not necessarily simple. I gave some examples to illustrate the problematic [sic], but obviously it is not in my hands and not my part to talk about this," he continued. "Honestly, which game maker would not love his game to be playable on as many platforms and by as many people as possible? Regardless console or PC, what matters is the game and the pleasure people can get from it."
Hey, it happens. And to give Mettra the benefit of the doubt, it's a fine line between "we hear you bitching" and "we understand you're concerned." Does it matter? Well, no, because the bottom line is that if Ubisoft doesn't see sufficient potential for return on a PC release then it's not going to happen. But there's certainly no need to be rude about it.
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The I Am Alive developer who blew off "bitching" PC gamers says he thinks his comments were misconstrued because he's not a native English speaker, and that a PC version of the game may yet happen.
Earlier this week, I Am Alive Creative Director Stanislas Mettra touched a nerve [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114356-I-Am-Alive-Producer-Dismisses-Bitching-PC-Gamers] when he said that Ubisoft had "heard loud and clear that PC gamers are bitching about their being no version of [I Am Alive] for them," but that it was hard to justify the expense involved in making the game because of rampant piracy. Even at a relatively small investment, he said, "If only 50,000 people buy the game then it's not worth it."
Not the gentlest way to put it, eh? But in a follow-up email to IncGamers [http://www.incgamers.com/News/29708/i-am-alive-dev-clarifies-pc-stance], Mettra said he thinks something was lost in the translation. "I would really love to see a PC build of the game and I don't think I meant to say 'the game won't happen on PC'," he wrote. "It's probably an English language miscommunication (I am not native English speaker)."
"What I meant is that the PC version did not happen yet [sic]. But we are still working to see the feasibility of it, which is not necessarily simple. I gave some examples to illustrate the problematic [sic], but obviously it is not in my hands and not my part to talk about this," he continued. "Honestly, which game maker would not love his game to be playable on as many platforms and by as many people as possible? Regardless console or PC, what matters is the game and the pleasure people can get from it."
Hey, it happens. And to give Mettra the benefit of the doubt, it's a fine line between "we hear you bitching" and "we understand you're concerned." Does it matter? Well, no, because the bottom line is that if Ubisoft doesn't see sufficient potential for return on a PC release then it's not going to happen. But there's certainly no need to be rude about it.
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