For players who want to start off 2021 with a scare, Bloober Team has something to offer: there’s only a few weeks left before The Medium arrives. After the back and forth of PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2020, some may have expected Bloober Team to put the pedal to the metal and get The Medium done in time to be a launch title for the Xbox Series X. Instead, the developer seemingly decided to play the long game and make sure the game is up to snuff rather than rushing the product, which has apparently been it’s go-to tactic for quite some time. Fans now know that the game has been in development since 2012, so Bloober Team appears to be of the disposition that slow and steady wins the race.
The Medium isn’t the only high profile game that’s spent several years in development. Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most hotly discussed games of 2020, was announced in 2012 too. However, there’s more that sets The Medium and Cyberpunk 2077 apart than makes them similar, and not just in genre. Cyberpunk 2077‘s high octane development seems like the opposite of the gradual pace at which Bloober Team has put The Medium together. Cyberpunk 2077 has already made its release and stirred plenty of controversy, while fans and critics now wait to see if The Medium‘s opposite approach makes for good results.
No matter what one thinks of Cyberpunk 2077, it’s hard to deny that it’s one of the most ambitious games in recent memory. Both the development and the game’s publicity seemed determined to push limits. Cyberpunk was never shy about talking about itself; CD Projekt Red arranged lots of cinematics, gameplay trailers, and special events to keep the game in the public eye, like Keanu Reeves making appearances to promote the game. Cyberpunk‘s development also unfortunately grabbed attention for forcing crunch where it promised none would happen. Doubling down, many fans were angry and disappointed when the game released, as the community complained of extensive bugs and Cyberpunk‘s overall failure to perform on consoles that weren’t next-gen.
The Medium has gone very differently. It hasn’t decided to push the technology available to it to its limits. Instead, Bloober Team seems to have waited for new technology to make the game work. The Medium revolves around a mechanic where the players control the protagonist Marianne in two worlds at once, the physical world and the spirit world. The game has no current plans to release on Xbox One since rendering both worlds at once is rather demanding, but the Xbox Series X can supply the processing power needed, though, as can high end gaming PCs. In other words, instead of forcing The Medium onto platforms where it might struggle and demanding things that technology of years ago couldn’t provide, Bloober Team was patient and waited for technology to catch up with its ambitions.
The results are in for Cyberpunk 2077‘s determination to put on a shoe that didn’t fit. It hasn’t played well with the Xbox One and PS4, and has shown its imperfections overall. CD Projekt Red is determined to make good on the controversy, though. There’s Cyberpunk DLC on the way that could reintroduce new content that got cut, as well as updates to fix and make up for the game’s weaknesses. Still, the blazing pace of Cyberpunk‘s development and its attempt to make old technology work has marked its reputation. Optimism for the game’s future can only be framed in the context of its complicated release.
The Medium may have guarded itself from this kind of explosive release by being developed so carefully. There’s still a few weeks left before fans and critics determine the quality of Bloober Team’s final product, but it seems poised for success. Its content making use of the new Xbox’s technology to ensure that it delivers on its vision, even if that means it’s not available to as many potential fans. For now, fans can hope that the leisurely pace of The Medium‘s development means attention to detail is the name of the game.
The Medium releases on January 28 for PC and Xbox Series X.
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