We won’t work with Microsoft again – Team Meat

Outspoken indies Team Meat will no longer have a commercial partnership with Microsoft, a co-founder at the studio has said.

Edmund McMillen (pictured) has criticised the Xbox manufacturer for its lack of support during production of the 2010 XBLA hit Super Meat Boy.

“I don’t think we’ll work with them [Microsoft] ever again,” McMillen said on the IndieGames.com podcast.

Team Meat does remain on good terms with an unnamed Microsoft producer, McMillen added.

“He also happens to be the producer on every good game on the fucking system [Xbox 360]. It felt like he was the only person who really believed in us, and he felt like a friend.”

Super Meat Boy, initially a popular Flash game that Team Meat had plans to reinvent for the Wii’s digital platform, eventually became a console exclusive for Microsoft.

The Xbox Live Arcade game, which has received a 90 Metacritic score, benefited from Microsoft promotion at launch.

But McMillen believes the studio hasn’t been properly supported since.

“We’ve not had one [discount] sale [on Xbox] since our initial launch, and I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” he said.

“Whenever we ask, and we actively ask monthly if we can be included in a sale or get any kind of promotion, they say no.”

Team Meat co-founder Tommy Refenes said the only the studio would work with Microsoft again “is if it’s more on our terms, which I don’t feel like they’ll ever want to agree with”.

Meanwhile, Refenes explained that the PC edition of Super Meat Boy has sold roughly twice as many copies as the Xbox Live Arcade version.

“That’s just on Steam for PC,” he said.

“Other digital distribution sites in no way compare to what Steam is. Steam is a fucking powerhouse.”