Minecraft doesn’t have a PS5 version because Sony didn’t send Microsoft Dev Kits, says Phil Spencer

Xbox boss Phil Spencer blames Sony for not having the original PlayStation 5 version of Minecraft. During the trial portion of the Microsoft FTC, Spencer claimed that Sony was reluctant to give Microsoft access to the PlayStation 5 development kits ahead of the console’s launch in 2020.

“Sony was reluctant to send us development kits for the PlayStation 5 at the same time it was sending it to other developers, which put us at a disadvantage compared to other developers,” said Spencer. “I think Sony could have sent the development kits to Microsoft as easily as they sent them to any other publisher.”

Minecraft is playable on PS5 through the PlayStation 4 version, so it’s not as though PlayStation gamers have been left out of this generation’s Minecraft ecosystem. Industry experts They also point out that the Xbox Series X | S doesn’t seem to have its own improved version of Minecraft, which puts the two platforms on a level playing field.

However, the FTC has argued that Microsoft has spent three years since the launch of the PS5 to create an authentic version of Minecraft for the platform. Spencer responded by saying that Xbox looked at ways to “maximize the success of Minecraft”.

Elsewhere, Minecraft Dungeons was also discussed, and we learned that at one point the game was considered as a potential PC-only title. It ended up shipping on all platforms.

The Microsoft FTC experiment has already revealed a lot about the inner workings of the video game industry that we rarely hear about otherwise. Earlier in today’s proceedings, we learned that Starfield had completely skipped Xbox prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. For everything that’s happened, check out our summary of the trial so far.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with minor lines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.