 Surprise, surprise! Cuphead is now available on PlayStation 4! In an impressive, sudden reveal, Studio MDHR shadowdropped the game on the PS4 yesterday. What makes this particularly surprising is the fact that Cuphead was always supposed to be an Xbox-exclusive title. The Moldenhauer family, which runs Studio MDHR, signed an exclusivity contract with Microsoft during the game's development. Bringing Cuphead to the Switch seemed surprising enough, but to bring the game to PlayStation, the Xbox's main competitor in the console market seems particularly unexpected. Unless, of course, you've been paying attention to the shifts happening within Microsoft's gaming division over the past few years. Xbox Studios has been buying up a lot of smaller developers, and Microsoft has been repositioning itself not just as a console manufacturer, but also a third-party publisher. In fact, at present, Microsoft doesn't even consider Sony to be their main gaming rival. According to Phil Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft, when you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward. That's not to disrespect Nintendo and Sony, but the traditional gaming companies are somewhat out of position. With Google Stadia currently struggling to gain a foothold, it might not seem like that big of a threat. Nevertheless, while Phil anticipates that it'll be years before cloud gaming really hits its stride, Microsoft is planning ahead by shifting to a publishing role in the hopes of strengthening their xCloud gaming service. This means really looking at the games they're publishing and deciding whether they're best kept as Xbox exclusives, or whether they'll bring in more sales if published on other platforms. Head of Xbox Games Studios Matt Booty said, The question is less binary about should it be on Switch, should it be on PlayStation, and more, does it make sense for the franchise? In other words, is it a kind of game where it would benefit from the network effect of being on a bunch of different platforms, or is it a game where we can best support it by putting resources and making sure that our platforms, things like xCloud and Game Pass and Xbox Live, are really leaning in to support the game? It's hardly a surprise to learn that, three years after launch, Cuphead is not exactly an Xbox system seller. Thus, as Microsoft is no longer trying to compete directly with Sony, it makes sense to get the best return from their indie smash hit by bringing it to the PlayStation. As for the Moldenhauers and everyone at Studio MDHR, of course they were on board with this. Said the wonderful Maya Moldenhauer, We grew up PlayStation fans, we're PlayStation fans to this day, going back to Resident Evil and Vandal Hearts, so it's been something that we've always dreamed of happening, and bringing it to the fans. It's so awesome that the Xbox team has been so supportive in empowering us in bringing this game to more players, so we're thankful for their support. Working with the PlayStation team has been incredible, today we've been welcomed with open arms into that family. They've done a really great job of helping us to keep this a secret until now. Getting the game to the PlayStation Store though hasn't been entirely easy, as with many studios around the world at present, work at MDHR has slowed under the current climate. Thankfully, the team have always worked remotely, so there wasn't any nasty shock to adjusting to working from home and communicating online. In fact, other game studios reached out to MDHR asking for advice in how to keep development running smoothly while staff are working from home. That said, this is a family studio, and many artists and developers have young children who are suddenly in need of extra childcare. Maya says that it's very common for team members to let their kids wander around in the background while they're on video calls or working on the game. The moral of the story is that there's no need to put up artificial boundaries or feed petty rivalries. Just as Microsoft is embracing opportunities to work with Sony and Nintendo, we can all benefit from making friends with others around us who share similar goals. By working together, even when we're apart, we can make wonderful things happen.