Rumor: Microsoft Rejected PS4 Exclusive Rime Because it ‘Didn’t Fit’ Xbox One’s Strategy

UPDATE: Microsoft Game Studios' boss Phil Spencer has said Microsoft's decision to decline Rime was a mistake.

Commenting on Twitter, Spencer responded on to a question asking why the company rejected the game saying, "Part of job is living with mistakes. Passed on Guitar Hero… I can list many misses regretfully. I try to focus on what we did ship."

He later added, "We'll miss some, nature of the beast, it's why I don't hate when games ship elsewhere. Cool to see team's idea turn into [a] great game." 

ORIGINAL STORY: PlayStation 4 exclusive Rime was reportedly rejected by Microsoft because the game did not fit with Microsoft's connected vision for the Xbox One. 

In a Spanish interview with Deus Ex Machima last November (not to be confused with Eidos' game franchise), Raul Rubio, the CEO of Tequila Works, said: 

"Then the Xbox One plans were announced and everything changed. The people at Microsoft say that the game doesn't fit in the strategy of the new console, that they are looking for 'connected experiences' and the social factor. Rime didn't fit because it was a single-player game, a very traditional game experience."

Rubio's comments seemingly confirm newly revealed documents posted by VGLeaks which show that Rime was originally called Echoes of Siren and was initially pitched as an Xbox 360, Windows 8, and Windows Phone 7 release with Tequila Games seeking $3 million to bring the game to XBLA and a further $40,000 for Windows 8. 

Rime was intended as a Microsoft exclusive and was described as a third-person isometric RPG with a “great deal of exploration, crafting, survival and hero defence” which the studio compared to Orcs Must Die! 

Tequila Works described the game in its pitch as:

“Gauntlet meets Minecraft meets Jason and the Argonauts. As the darkest legends go, there is a far-off island where evil spirits inhabit and they are able to terrify the most determined and brave heart. It is now as Ecos; the damned island.

“Not always it was this. At another time a great civilization was developed in it. Their inhabitants bloomed until becoming a lighthouse in the dark. History became legend. Legend became myth. Many looked for the island and its secrets. Now, their bones and empty fortresses remain as a reminder of their imprudence.”

Microsoft rejected the pitch and Tequila Works turned to Sony and PlayStation 4.