Microsoft has confirmed that indie developers won’t be able to self-publish games to the Live Arcade on the Xbox One console.
Indie developers excited to create games for the Xbox One won’t be allowed to self-publish any of their titles without a publishing deal.
In order for indie developers to publish a game on the Xbox Live Arcade they will be required to partner with Microsoft Game Studios or a third-party publisher.
Microsoft has already put limitations on the amount of games that make it onto the Xbox Live Arcade in the past, and won’t be changing its ways with the next-generation console.
“We intend to continue to court developers in the way that we have,” said Matt Booty, General Manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms. “I would also expect that for this new generation that we’re going to continue to explore new business models and new ways of surfacing content. But Microsoft Studios is a publisher that works with a wide range of partners, as do a lot of other people, to bring digital content to the box.”
Indie developers can still publish their games on the Xbox Live Indie Games, but that section of the Xbox Live Arcade has a history of not being financially viable.
Microsoft is the only console maker that prevents indie developers from self-publishing their games. Sony and Nintendo both allow them to publish their own games on the Sony Network and Nintendo Network, and Sony is well known for wanting to increase the amount of independent content available for the PS4.
The Xbox One manufacturer has also confirmed that the console won’t offer backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games due to the console’s change in internal architecture. The console will pack an eight-core AMD processor with 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Games will install directly to the hard drive in full allowing instant game launches, upgrades and downloads.
Next, read our Xbox One vs Xbox 360 comparison.
