Fragmented platforms ain’t helping. I decided to finally check out this game (I had a good time with Witch Beam’s first one but this just does not interest me m

Fragmented platforms ain’t helping. I decided to finally check out this game (I had a good time with Witch Beam’s first one but this just does not interest me much) and discovered it doesn’t seem to be on the iPad I’m typing this on despite it looking like a total natural for that. It’s on Steam, the Switch, and the Xbox. It is at least available on the Mac via Steam but I would have not been at all surprised if it was Windows only, which would have meant I own nothing that could play it, despite it probably being built in a framework (their previous game was in Unity) that easily exports to the iOS tablets in my hand and the PS4 in my living room. This is likely due to them signing exclusivity deals that got them money to finish making the game on, but it creates a distinct hole that clones fill, the same way there were a thousand Pac-Man clones on the home computers and games of the eighties. I don’t want to blame the victim here but this kind of feels like I am. It’s a huge goddamn mess that’s as much the fault of the companies running huge centralized app stores with moderation guidelines that are, in this case, way too loose. Or are exactly as loose as they can legally get away with; see the part where Google Play’s reaction to a game that was clearly a traceover of Unpacking was basically “we will do nothing, go get your own lawyers and fight it out in court”. I would say maybe “lawyers” and “someone to hassle with takedown notices while Witch Beam gets on with their next game” is a thing their publisher should be doing, but they seem to be self-publishing. Which is a whole giant pile of stress that I’ve been through with comics, turns out publishers do a lot of boring bullshit for you that’s maybe worth their cut so you can get on with making the thing you’re good at making. Vlambeer hooked up with Devolver after Ridiculous Fishing, hopefully Witch Beam will find a similar indie-focused publisher to help with this stuff soon.