More on Tales Xbox 360 exclusivity claim

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 28 June, 2011

Namco Bandai community manager backtracks.

Microsoft paid for western Xbox 360 exclusivity of Tales of Vesperia – or did it?

Last week Namco Bandai Europe Junior community manager Charlotte Toci said on Facebook that Microsoft paid Namco Bandai to keep 2009 JRPG Tales of Vesperia a western Xbox 360 exclusive, thus explaining why the belated, expanded PlayStation 3 version never made it outside of Japan.

"Microsoft paid for the exclusivity the same way Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3," she said.

"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."

Now, Toci has once again taken to Facebook, but this time to backtrack on her earlier comments.

"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.

"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."

An actual denial that Microsoft paid for Tales Xbox 360 exclusivity, or an admission that she was wrong to mention it?

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (15) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • siro #1 11 months ago

    "An actual denial that Microsoft paid for Tales Xbox 360 exclusivity, or an admission that she was wrong to mention it? "

    How about reading the full sentence from the quote you are referring to:

    "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."

  • NorUraeus #2 11 months ago

    It didn't really make much sense, I mean of all the games in the world Microsoft would decide to moneyhat for the west I don't think Tales of Vesperia would be one of them. Nothing wrong with the title, but it simply doesn't have the kind of pulling power where anyone at Microsoft would have thought 'if we can keep Tales exclusive it will give us a really great boost over the PS3 in the west'.

    In the context of a permanent exclusive that is, and any timed exclusive period I am sure is long gone. What is keeping this title from the west is most likely the cost of localizing versus expected sales.
    Edited by NorUraeus at 28/06/11 @ 09:20

  • meanmrmustard #3 11 months ago

    Where the fuck is her apology to European PS3 owners?

  • Jazzy_Geoff #4 11 months ago

    So if it's not true, why didn't they release it? I think it is true. MS had a massive hard-on for JRPGs at the time.

  • Inmediasress #5 11 months ago

    Who cares if it is true or not.
    People should know that if every such attempt was made public you would equally hate all the big console making companies.

  • LimeScaled #6 11 months ago

    Case closed.

  • Malek86 #7 11 months ago

    I still think MS didn't really pay for exclusivity, but they simply have the rights to the localization. Just like Nintendo and Symphonia, which was the reason why Namco couldn't bring over the PS2 version.

  • PaletteSwap #8 11 months ago

    Hey, Bamco, I'm still waiting for an apology for Culdcept Saga never being released here.
    The guys region locked the NA version in case they released the game in Europe. Except they never did.
    You don't have to bribe Namco into a shitty localization policy, they can take care of themselves.

    @Jazzy_Geoff: the PS3 version was released in september 2009 in Japan. That hard on had pretty much died by then.

  • meanmrmustard #9 11 months ago

    @Inmediasress


    Not really, at least if such things were made public I would know to pick up a copy while it was still in stock instead of waiting for an enhanced version to come out on another console that will never happen in my region.

    So making it public would be more likely to gain them sales than lose them just because everyone would know that they had the exclusivity.


    "the PS3 version was released in september 2009 in Japan. That hard on had pretty much died by then. "

    If your Hard-on for JRPGs Persists for more than 3 years please consult your GP ....or play Final Fantasy XIII, that'll kill any JRPG boner.
    Edited by meanmrmustard at 28/06/11 @ 09:45

  • davisorle #10 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:16 09-05-2012

  • Segaswirl #11 11 months ago

    You would think that if it was a paid for exclusive, MS would have made sure Namco made plenty of copies. I want a copy of the game but i'm not paying £60 and above for it on ebay because it's "super rare"... not too keen on downloading it from Games on Demand either.

  • GundamJehutyKai #12 11 months ago

    @davisorl: it's still not clear what that quite means. As many people pointed out, the analogy used (comparing vesperia exclusivity to heavy rain) was false from the start! The false information could be that just as much as the possibility for paid exclusivity.

  • silversun #13 11 months ago

    It could be that it was paid for exclusive , when it came out i heard talk of this, anyway dont think people should be angry at her though.
    Its either microsoft or namco bandai dont want reveal it was or that they could bring it to ps3 and that they could repsone to the origonal question again instead of being hush hush about it.
    However saying this i just happy they going bring over tales of abyss and graces, so they get support for that.
    Edited by silversun at 28/06/11 @ 18:53

  • ReaperOscuro #14 11 months ago

    In actuality she never denies it: the information is false as in so far of its officiality, hence why she apologises for spreading unofficial info. As for her opinion, and if it is truth or not, such is never contested, but slyly sidestepped.
    Apart from that just a 101 in non-disclosure procedures and what to not disclose. Dho!!

  • Kaminari #15 11 months ago

    What the fuck is wrong with Namco these days?