Indie developers cautiously optimistic about self-publishing on Xbox One

Joystiq: "Cautious optimism was a consistent theme among most of the indie developers we reached out to, though some had greater reservations over Microsoft's inner machinations than others."

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

Xbox is the best place for indies this gen... no restrictions for indie games on xbl and microsoft will support these indies all the way.... its really easy for indies to use xbl.

[HammadTheBeast]

Heads up, this is colzer, well known Xbot/Troll.

MS' big ace was this 180 lol. As of now, the only successful indie on Xbox has been Mine craft, which barely counts considering it made it's name on PC.

The restrictions for Indies on Xbox are that MS demands a large share of profits, and exclusive content in some way or another. They also demand shares off of sales on other platforms.

[B-radical]

More info will be released at gamescom so who knows if its gonna be different or not

[adorie]

"They also demand shares off of sales on other platforms."

Where's the source for this? This is greedy to the core of their business practices if true.

It's like twisting a knife inside of both my eye sockets, reading this.

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

Hammandthebeast dont spoil the good news ms is doing great things and im glad to be part of that.

[dark-hollow]

Where is your sources?

[CRAIG667]

HammadTheBeast you talk some proper shit mate.

[pompombrum]

"They also demand shares off of sales on other platforms."

This I'm fairly certain that I've read is correct.. assuming an indie dev can't find a third party publisher, if they decided to use Microsoft's publishing, there is a crazy bunch of restrictions and I'm fairly certain one of them is a percentage of the profit from other platforms.

[B-radical]

Is it just me or is xbox one getting better since don mattrick left aha

But anyway i hope xbox one really does stick to an easy way for developers to get there game out

Edit: Will indies devs get to use the benefits of the cloud for free?

[Geezus]

"Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements" - Marc Whitten
idk about free tho probably will require a dev license or publishing fees or something the Unity engine is free to use though and it supports kinect.

[DigitalRaptor]

Damn, Craig - enough with that "care" stuff.

Do you actually think we believe one company really cares about our PERSONAL needs over the other? So naive.

What we are referring to is Microsoft and their absolute massive disconnect with the consumer. This goes beyond Xbox. There are companies that put out a good product and accompany it with policies that are in the best interest of the consumer. So basically, a company that puts the best interests of the consumer before their ultimate bottom line.

That is NOT what Microsoft does at any level. And the things they've done over the past few months/years absolute smack in the face proves it. They have essentially told their consumer base that they are going to screw them over whilst smiling at them and telling them it's a good thing. If they had the interests of their consumers and developer partners in mind, they would never have had to reverse and "reintroduce" any of their policies. This is nothing to do with being a fanboy.

People dislike Microsoft for good reason.

[LoveOfTheGame]

@DigitalRaptor
What does the past few years have to do with anything Microsoft is going to do this gen?

[n4rc]

Do you actually think we believe one company really cares about our PERSONAL needs over the other? So naive.

There are companies that put out a good product and accompany it with policies that are in the best interest of the consumer. So basically, a company that puts the best interests of the consumer before their ultimate bottom line.

Which is it?

[elhebbo16]

Fanboyism aside, its better for everybody at the end of the day.

[SEAN1617]

Ummm hmmm I just have to say RUN Mother F$%*#rs RUN!

[maniacmayhem]

I agree, this news should have came way earlier. But even still I am really glad that MS changed this insane policy.

This plus not having to pay for a dev kit is a big plus. Good job guys.

[n4rc]

Blah.. Enough of the indie crap already! Lol

Yea I'm sure some gems will arise from this.. But it really just opens the door for tons and tons of crap. I don't have time to play all the big name games I want as it is.. Lucky you if you do lol

Just look at the Google play store or apple store. 95% are stupid copies of other apps or just plain useless..

[annus]

If only there was some sort of way to sort the good from the bad, to bad such an amazing thing like a 'most viewed' or 'top rated' category has never existed before...

[n4rc]

If only those systems were easily and frequently manipulated.. ;)

You can't argue the point.. You think "hey! A guitar tuner on my phone!" And search for one.. You get 6000 results..

What's the point?

[first1NFANTRY]

I don't blame them for being cautious. How anyone expects them to open their arms up to M$ after they tried screwing every gamer possible is beyond me.

On a brighter note i hope M$ provides indies the necessary tools and practices needed to fulfill their visions.

[forcefullpower]

All this is going to be is the app store across all products. With all those restrictions in place except for 14 day approval.

This will not be the same access to the game OS everyone thinks it will be.

[first1NFANTRY]

i agree my thoughts as well.

[WeAreLegion]

Why didn't they tell indie developers about their plans to let them self-publish?

[CYCLEGAMER]

I am not a big fan of Indie games but, this seems to be good for indie devs and people that are interested in their games.

[_FantasmA_]

I don't really like them either, but I'm glad they are around to balance out those Microdeuches and other turd like EA and Activision. I don't hate all of Activision, but EA and M$ could fall off a cliff tomorrow and I'd probably be really sad...because then I wouldn't have anyone to make fun off. But they deserve the hate. Indie games are creative but I can't play them for more than a few minutes before I start playing some epic game.

[_FantasmA_]

Why would people even bother with anything M$ makes? All they are doing is changing their minds like Mitt Romney changed his mind every day for votes. Mitt, I mean M$ Romney doesn't care about you or your gaming needs. All they care about is money. Besides M$ is just following Sony's lead. Its like they are the jealous, ugly, younger, dumber brother who c-blocks on his older brothers and can't be happy for them.

And really do you expect M$ to really just change overnight? Like they aren't going to try to scam you later when you've suckered into buying their Spybox One?? How can you trust someone like this? Its like your girlfriend threatening to cheat on you and then saying she was just joking. You will never feel the same way about her again and trust?? Well, that trust is gone and you better find yourself a real woman that will care about you!

Let me tell you about this woman Sony. She is older and more experienced and has more to offer and she doesn't even want your money every month. She isn't a Gold digger (pun intended)and is good for longer relationships. She won't be you just 4 years and then pack up and leave.

[B-radical]

Older woman you say? I like my lady's without the need of lube thanks

[CYCLEGAMER]

@fantasm
With all due respect, I feel your passion but, you would be a FOOL to think that any of these companies are actually looking out for you and not really chasing that all mighty dollar.

All of these companies are trying to get in your wallet it just so happened that Sony guessed right for the next gen and MS didn't.

Trust me if Sony believed that going with an all digital system would double their profits, they would jump on it or at least attempt to implement it until consumers and their wallets showed them otherwise.

So to use your analogy, both women just want your money, but one of the girls remembered her mistakes from the last time and corrected them, and the other got to comfortable/cocky and forgot what you liked about her, but is slowly being reminded what made her so great.

DON'T GET IT TWISTED!

[_FantasmA_]

I never said Sony doesn't want your money. But there are ways to treat a customer so good that handing over the money to get high quality content makes it worth it. Games cost money, so of course we have to pay Sony. But we get spoiled, and even more so with Plus. They do the right things to earn that money. M$ gives you finger, asks for money, then asks for even more money.

[ainsleyharriott]

Hopefully it's like on the 360, just pay £60 a year for the license

[Kennytaur]

So they're going to hold off the devkit feature until all devs have bought a proper and expensive one?