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Phil Fish: Fez will hit new platforms in 2013

Fez
Image used with permission by copyright holder

When you think of Fez, a number of descriptors might roll through your head depending on which video game systems you happen to own. Those with Xbox 360 consoles would say its a cleverly-designed, aesthetically-appealing homage to classic platforming games, while those who own PlayStation 3s would likely just sneer and walk away, as Fez is simply not available on their machine of choice. For months now it seemed as if this was simply the way of things, but now Fez creator Phil Fish has offered word that the game will be appearing on other platforms at some point during 2013.

During the course of his short end of the year address at the Polytron Corporation website Fish offered up the following:

2012 was crazy.

But what now?

2013 is going to be an interesting one, too.

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For one, FEZ will finally be ported to other platforms.

Yes, i’ve heard you, dozens of people emailing me everyday telling me how much of an idiot i am for not porting FEZ to everything.

We also have some exciting plans for the soundtrack, and something about a US branch?

Beyond that however, the future is uncertain for polytron.

Which other platforms? When? How much will these new versions cost? Fish answers none of these questions, and has so far not responded to our attempts at clarification. Then again, this is December 31, so its more likely that he’s simply enjoying the holidays than hiding some dark, sinister secret. Expect more information from Fish when he’s less busy relaxing.

As one might expect, Fish followed that semi-concrete announcement with more ethereal word that “there’s a couple of new games in the pipeline, of course.” We know nothing about these titles, but given the objective quality of Fez we expect them to be interesting, if nothing else. Hopefully Fish won’t spend seven years building each one as he did with Fez; Tantalizing glimpses of an attractive game are enough to build buzz when you’re relatively unknown, but now that Fez is a hit and Fish has become one of the de facto faces of independent games development, he’s going to have to put games together far faster or risk fading into obscurity once again. As Fish says, “2013 is going to be an interesting one, too.”

Earnest Cavalli
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
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