is offering free Xbox One development kits to approved video games makers to encourage small teams to make titles for its forthcoming console. It announced the move at the Gamescom trade fair in Cologne as part of its ID@Xbox self-publishing programme.
The equivalent hardware for the Xbox 360 costs thousands of pounds.
One expert said the move might help address a perception that Sony was more “indie-friendly”. The PlayStation maker dedicated a large part of its presentation to independent developers at the E3 expo in June, while Microsoft only briefly mentioned the sector at the Los Angeles event.
Track record
Although Microsoft said that in time it intended to make it possible for software writers to create games using retail versions of the Xbox One, at launch the facility will be limited to special development editions of the machine. To qualify, it said, developers must have a proven track record of shipping games on a console, PC or mobile devices. Teams which are approved will be given two of the development machines free of charge. The teams must also have their programs certified by Microsoft’s managers before they become available to the public, but they will be free to set their own wholesale price to which the console-maker will then add its own charge.
‘Right direction’
Barry Meade of Fireproof Studios – a 14-person team that won Bafta’s award for best British game earlier this year – had previously criticised Microsoft for “interminable bureaucracy, exorbitant fees and, let’s be honest, frequent head-in-the-sand arrogance”. However, he gave a cautious welcome to the latest announcement. Prof Louis Natanson, who leads computer games education at Abertay University in Dundee, also welcomed the news.
“The next generation of consoles is now looking very exciting for indie companies, with Microsoft’s announcements today and Sony’s work on bringing indie games to the Vita and building the PlayStation 4 to make it easily accessible to small development teams,” he said.
“There hasn’t been a more exciting time for indie developers since the bedroom development scene of the 1980s and 1990s.”