Hyper-difficult platformer Super Meat Boy is headed to PlayStation platforms this year, and PlayStation Plus subscribers can pick up copies free of charge upon its launch, indie developer Team Meat announced today.
Originally released for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms in 2010, Super Meat Boy garnered praise for its fiendishly constructed level layouts and inventive take on the side-scrolling platformer genre. Taking on the role of a sentient wad of meat, players dodge countless instant-death hazards and traps strewn throughout dozens of included stages. Replays shown at the end of every level display all of a player’s previous failed attempts simultaneously, crowding the screen with scenes of meat-scattering carnage.
Team Meat notes that fans have long requested multiplatform ports for Super Meat Boy, but claims that it “wasn’t allowed to bring it to the PlayStation for very complicated reasons.” While these reasons are not explicitly disclosed, Microsoft Game Studios originally published and promoted the game via the Xbox Live Arcade digital service, and likely secured an exclusivity deal that extended for years afterward.
Super Meat Boy‘s development and release was chronicled in the 2012 documentary film “Indie Game: The Movie.” Throughout the film, developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes explained how game development took a toll on their personal and professional lives, and recounted their difficult experience in dealing with console publishing.
Developer McMillen followed up on Super Meat Boy‘s release with The Binding of Isaac, a roguelike action game that takes inspiration from Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda. A reworked version Super Meat Boy for phones and tablets, titled Super Meat Boy: Forever, is currently in production.
No further details regarding the upcoming PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita ports of Super Meat Boy have been announced. Team Meat narrows down a release date to “later this year.”
