Kickbeat started on PS3, positive feedback brought it back

Kickbeat began as a PS3 game, and as the Vita version took center stage Zen was quietly still making PS3 assets, according to creative director Neil Sorens.

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The recently released music-combat game Kickbeat may have been first announced on Vita as far as the public was concerned, but the project actually had a much longer life behind the scenes. Zen Studios creative director Neil Sorens says it actually began on PS3, making its eventual announcement for the system an easy transition.

"We actually started development on KickBeat in 2009 on the PS3, long before the Vita was a thing," Sorens told Push Square. "Once Sony shared Vita information with us, and we realized that moving the game there wouldn't be too hard--powerful device, good SDK--we did so. The game is a natural fit for handheld gaming, as it's designed to be played in short bursts--the length of a song--and the Vita's button layout still fits the control scheme perfectly."

At that point, Zen was focusing on the Vita version, and the PS3 version grew sidelined. It was only after the Vita announcement that they were convinced to finish up the original console iteration.

"Although the PS3 version fell into disrepair, we kept creating assets for both the PS3 and Vita, just in case," he said. "And as positive feedback and interest in the game grew from both players and Sony, we realised that getting the PS3 version back up and running was our best option. It actually didn't push the release date back by more than maybe a month max--the long development time was really just the result of getting everything polished and finalized on the Vita."

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