Until a few years ago, the idea of seeing a Microsoft representative on a Sony stage would have seemed quite ludicrous, but times have changed, and the house of Windows and Xbox now owns one of the biggest games IP in the world, Minecraft.
This caused what was previously unthinkable to happen. At the PlayStation Awards held in Tokyo this week, a Microsoft representative walked on stage to receive an award directly from local Sony Interactive Entertainment President Atsushi Morita.
The man to make this historical step towards platform ecumenism is Senior Producer Yutaka Noma (portrayed above as he receives the prize), alongside 4J Studios Co-Founder Paddy Burns (who boasted his Scottish heritage with the most awesome kilt suit).
And what Noma-San was on stage to receive wasn’t a small award. It was the only Double Platinum Award, which marks the sale of two million copies of the game in Japan and Asia, and is effectively the biggest honor granted at the ceremony. This was the first time a game received a multiple Platinum Award since 2011, when Monster Hunter Portable 3rd for PSP was granted a Quadruple Platinum Award.
Noma-san previously worked on Xbox Live Arcade titles created in Japan like Grasshopper Manufacture’s Diabolical Pitch and Toylogic’s Happy Wars, and had a hand in Grounding’s Crimson Dragon at the beginning of this generation.
This isn’t the first time in which Minecraft is honored at the PlayStation Awards, having won a Platinum Prize and a PlayStation Network award in 2015, but Microsoft was not present that year.
This isn’t even the only interesting aspect of this year’s ceremony, as Persona 5 managed the quite unique stunt of winning a User’s Choice Award two years in a row, receiving enough votes from the rest of Asia to warrant a prize this year as well.
