Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath 360 absence explained

Earlier this month, Just Add Water announced it would deliver a downloadable remake of Oddworld Inhabitants' Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath to PlayStation 3 owners this Easter. However, the move was curious, considering Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath originally saw release to critical acclaim as an Xbox exclusive in 2005.

Today, Just Add Water addressed the discrepancy, stating that while it doesn't consider the Stranger's Wrath redux a PS3 exclusive, it is hampered from releasing the game through Xbox Live due to file-size constraints.

"Now with regard to Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath on the 360, there are a number of factors that are currently sitting in our way to announce a 360 version of the title," Just Add Water said on its official blog. "Whilst we can't go into all the details, what I can say is we are working with Microsoft to get the title on that platform. However, the final decision is NOT ours."

"One thing we can discuss in regard to the 360 version is the size of the game," the developer continued. "On XBLA there is a 2GB size limit we have to adhere to. Currently the title weighs in at 2.1GB, and that is without any updates. So either we have to pull a miracle out of the bag with some type of amazing compression system, or ask Microsoft to increase their 2GB limit. However, this limit is apparently hardware led, so please let us try and make a miracle happen."

Just Add Water did not expound upon what it meant by Microsoft's "hardware led" file-size cap. Though in the past Microsoft has assigned a hard cap to Xbox Live Arcade file sizes, one that began at a mere 50MB, the publisher has relaxed the threshold on a number of occasions throughout the years. Further, Xbox Live's Games on Demand program regularly serves up current-gen games as digital downloads, ones with file sizes as large as 6GB.

Microsoft had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.