Heavy Rain Could Have Been on the Xbox 360

PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavy Rain was originally pitched to Microsoft for the Xbox 360, but as Quantic Dream's David Cage explained, there were some aspects of the thriller that proved to be too much for the company.

In a talk at the BAFTA annual game lecture, Cage revealed the original story of how Heavy Rain almost came to be part of the Xbox line-up. According to Digital Spy, one element of the acclaimed title was just too controversial for Microsoft.

We were pitching Heavy Rain to different publishers, including Sony, and we went to Microsoft," Cage told those in attendance. "We had a very long talk and they loved Fahrenheit, and they really wanted to do something with us. They got scared by the fact that Heavy Rain was about kids being kidnapped, and they said, 'This is an issue, we want to change it'. Well, we could have kidnapped cats, it would be a different experience!

"For me, that was a very interesting signal. It was like, you know what, I don't think we can work together, because you don't understand what I'm to achieve here."

Quantic is now developing Beyond: Two Souls for the PlayStation 3 exclusively, and has plans for the PlayStation 4 in place as well. It's interesting to think of how different the landscape would have been were Heavy Rain exclusive to the Xbox 360, but at least Sony was there to say "Yes."