She claimed ”Microsoft paid for the exclusivity” on Xbox 360 at the time, but now she says no ”official information on that” exists; offers ”sincere apologies”.
”Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3,” said Charlotte Toci, referring to 2009 JRPG Tales of Vesperia which launched only on Xbox 360 in the West. The expanded PS3 version never left Japan.
”It’s just one way the business works, sadly. Those decisions are made really high up y’know, we do try and give them the max of fan feedback, but sometimes it’s just out of our hands.” The community manager is now backtracking on Facebook.
”A few months ago I replied to a fan who asked me why Tales of Vesperia wasn’t localized in Europe on my Facebook page,” she said.
”I replied that it was because of a Microsoft exclusivity, thinking that that was the reason why, even though I didn’t have any official information on that.”
”I was wrong to do so, and sadly my reply was relayed on many websites, thus sharing a false information to fans around the web,” continued Toci. ”I would like to send my sincere apologies to all the Tales Series fans I have wrongly informed, and Microsoft & Namco Bandai for any damage that might have been caused with this.”
You’ll notice she doesn’t specifically state that Tales of Vesperia isn’t an Xbox 360 exclusive in the West, only that she’s sorry she said it was at the time despite not having concrete details when she posted on Facebook. Was a deal struck for the JRPG?
