Ember Lab will seemingly be spreading its wings for pastures new in the future as a new ESRB rating all but confirms an Xbox Series X|S version of Kena: Bridge of Spirits is in the works. First released for the PS5, PS4, and PC in September 2021, the Xbox port could bring up to three years of console exclusivity to an end. Ember Lab developed and put the indie game out itself, so no publishing ties with Sony have been cut despite how much the platform holder marketed it.
While we've heard very little from the developer since the launch of the game, it was confirmed it took Ember Lab just one month to recoup its production costs and begin turning a profit. With the game now readily available on PS Plus Extra, it can secure a new revenue stream on Xbox hardware.
In our Kena: Bridge of Spirits PS5 review, we awarded the game a 7/10 and shared praise for its wonderful visuals, fun combat, and engaging side activities. "Despite borrowing from all manner of modern hits, Kena: Bridge of Spirits just about stands on its own. The wonderful visuals and music leave a strong impression, while the gameplay is simple but enjoyable."
[source esrb.org]
Comments 63
Good game, glad it's moving to other platforms. Personally, I believe it would do wonderfully on Nintendo systems.
Excellent. I enjoyed this game and the more players can enjoy it the better!
Removed - trolling/baiting
Played it on PS+, got extremely bored after an hour.
Might of been considered a good game 20 years ago.
Well deserved! I really liked this game.
Controls were a little stiff but the game was fun.
Enjoyed this game. Some tricky combat in places too.
I bought it at launch but couldn't get into it. Might go back and give i another chance. Most likely will be launched on game pass
@TrickyDicky99 There are a lot of great games from 20 years ago that are still great games today.
Why port this to XBOX instead of Switch? Unless Ember Lab got a paycheck for Gamepass, I don’t see them making much money off sales to XBOX owners.
Wicked game. Glad other gamers get to enjoy it.
Awesome game. Very impressive for a debut game from a new studio. Hope they find success over on Xbox and here's hoping we hear about whatever Ember Lab is up to next soon!
Maybe it’s a case of finding the right game at the right time, but I have nothing but fond memories of Kena. The overall presentation is outstanding and the character animation is superb, as is to be expected given the developer’s lineage. It’s also a bit of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, since after a fairly easy opening act, the game reveals a bit of a cruel streak that saw my Kena meet her maker a number of times due to my questionable skills.
Removed - unconstructive
Amazing game that everyone needs to play. Hopefully our friends on Xbox take full advantage.
A great game. Hopefully they will also make sequel in the future for PS5.
Yeah lovely game that and so much better than I expected. Hope that Xbox players buy it… unless it’s on Gamepass of course.
I really enjoyed it and was quite surprised a few times when I got slapped hard by the difficulty.
Nonetheless, great hame overall.
@TrickyDicky99 it was considered a good game when it launched.
I really enjoyed this game, and it’s even more impressive as the studio’s first effort in the space. Much better than the gaming output of more seasoned developers who’ve been making games for decades
Ignore the trolls, this game is excellent and the art style and visuals are top quality. Was one of the best games I played the year it launched and still one of the best looking PS5 games to this day.
@Stevemalkpus My (very limited) understanding is that it takes quite a bit of work to port a UE4 game to mobile hardware like the Switch and have it run well and look good. It may just be that releasing on Xbox is the path of least resistance.
Beautiful game glad others can play it.
@Stevemalkpus Ah yes, the myth that Xbox players do not buy games.
@Cikajovazmaj Switch 2 probably.
Awesome news. I loved Kena. A very good first outing for Ember Labs. I really hope there’s a Kena 2 because there’s a TON of untapped potential in that world.
Removed - flaming/arguing
Article: There is a cool game coming to other platforms that may or may not be your cup of tea, but if it is, enjoy.
Gamers: Neat! Now let's fight for some reason.
@Amnesiac @Stevemalkpus With Xbox sharing a lot with PC, it's probably a pretty easy port to make for Xbox.
I'm not a game dev, so I don't know exactly how "closed off" the Xbox environment really is compared to PC, but seeing as how the Xbox is Windows-based (albeit extremely stripped down) and uses DirectX, my guess is that it's not crazy difficult to develop for if a PC version is already out there.
Even if it doesn't sell gangbusters, it probably wouldn't take long to get an ROI for development. Some "bean counter" somewhere at Ember felt it was a good idea, so who are we to argue? The more the merrier, right?!
I was hoping this was a sequel post when I saw Kena in the headline :/
It was a fun game. Beautiful art direction and the pre-rendered cutscenes were on-par with Pixar in terms of quality.
@Kidfried Of course Game Pass will affect some Games and their sale figures - its only natural after all that gamers, especially those with a LOT more Choice on what games they 'want' to fill their limited leisure time with, and in a Cost of Living crisis, will likely be less inclined to spend money if they don't need to.
If you have limited gaming time and there are games that appeal 'more' with much lower cost, it doesn't make sense to spend more. 'New' releases aren't just competing against other 'new' releases that week, they are competing with the 1000's of Games you have access to with your Hardware. If you'd rather play an older game now on Sale or a game in a Sub service, it makes sense not to buy.
Xbox gamers will buy Games they can't get on Game Pass - but they have to be anticipated, wanted more than all the other games you have access to.
If this released today on Xbox for example for £30, I'm sure it would sell some copies. I myself may not choose to buy because I could fill my limited Gaming time by playing Diablo 4, Lies of P, Sea of Thieves, Starfield, Mass Effect Trilogy, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, MLB24 or any of the other hundreds of games I could play for 'less' than £30 via sales or Sub Services.
If the game is 'good' enough, appeals enough and/or at the 'right' price, Gamers will buy - its just that Competition for gamers 'time' is more Competitive on Xbox because you also have 'new' day 1 releases in Game Pass. Hundreds of games competing just for your 'time'.
Nice little game this and it's really quite brutal in places.
This would probably do well on switch. Great game for more to play but for the love of god already the xbox pages are demanding it be on gamepass
Got it physically but still need to play it.
Great game and seems like a missed opportunity for Sony not to pick up Ember Lab considering some of the stupid $ decisions it's made this gen.
Looks like my kinda game 😎 deffo keep an eye out for this🙂
Sony should be purchased ember lab a while ago.more studio is welcome.word up son
Aaand there goes one of the few exclusives on PS5 that I actually did enjoy. Lovely.
There might not be a reason for me to even keep the PS5 if this keeps up.. Oh well, time to bust out the good (and better) ol' PS4!
I thought it was a fun game hopefully there still making games
Thoroughly enjoyed it when I purchased it during the launch period. For me it's at least an 8/10 rather than a 7. It's a shame a sequel was never released. What is Ember Labs up to these days?
Boring game but it was necessary for Sony to start backing more and more indies. Sea of Stars, Dave the diver and V rising are now the product of that journey.
Really impressive debut for Ember Lab. I actually forgot this was exclusive to PlayStation. Glad to see them expanding their audience.
Loved the art style and story was good, though they certainly could have made more of the setting and secondary characters. The gameplay was very mid though, it relies way too much on hitting tight parry windows and doesn't really diversify beyond that for the entire game.
Kind of shocked it's taken this long. I know Sony had a 2 year exclusive period, but that ended last year. Either way, this is a great game and it's great more gamers will get to play it. Though, Xbox gamers need to buy it. More sales means a better chance for a sequel.
@Stevemalkpus
Probably due to with Pentiment and Hi fi rush being on PS, also Grounded and Sea of Thieves release this month on PS.
Would make sense if Xbox got a few games from PS even though they already have the KH series, DQXI, FFVII original, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX/X-2 HD Remaster, World of FF, No Man’s Sky, Stray, Oddworld Soulstorm.
I think they have FFXII the Zodiac Age as well.
FFXIV is releasing on Xbox soon as well, yet Xbox players act as they never haven’t had any PS released on Xbox
Amazing. Should look fantastic on the X. I got it on PC from day 1, so never saw it as a Playstation game.
I recently installed it to test my new Odyssey Neo G7 calibration. They did a fantastic job with colors, lights and shadows.
They should implement Dolby Vision on the Xbox. True HDR is all it is missing.
It's okay, decent if somewhat vanilla game.
Does anyone know if Ember Lab's is working on a new game?
I haven't found any substantial information regarding a new title.
I say this with my highest recommendation, it's an incredible modern PS2 game. Old school gamers from that generation will enjoy it!
Probably straight to gamepass...
Fun game and beautiful visuals for the next game I hope they improve on making the combat less stiff. Ember Labs have potential. We'll see if Xbox users buy it.
Cool! I’ll trade in my PS5 copy and pick it up on Xbox.
@TrickyDicky99 ADHD gamers be like
Excellent news for Xbox gamers.
Hopefully it will be on GamePass soon enough.
I see a few “It’s wasn’t actually that good” have come out of the woodwork 😂
I’m glad it’s coming to new platforms as it’s a pretty cool little game that deserves more players.
@Stevemalkpus switch couldn’t handle it, weirdly it’s one of the most next gen looking games out there even being stylized. Series s will have trouble running it up to ps5 specs.
I bought this at launch and loved it. Art style is amazing. Glad it's going to get a potential bigger audience
Just couldn’t get into this. Seemed like I’d already played it a dozen times. A good introduction to this type of game for others though, I’m sure.
I think Nintendo is a more suitable platform if it's not already there.
I bought the game on pc, played a bit, was stuck at the beginning coz I didn't know what to do. Turned it off and got a refund haha.
Never played Kena but heard great things about it. Always loved the art style. Hopefully it also comes to Switch.
Glad for the other platforms!
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