In another 360 (get it?) by Microsoft, it seems that indie publishing and development are now encouraged for the Xbox One. In fact, according to recent reports, the new console can be used as a development kit, right out of the box. That’s right, any Xbox One available at launch from any retailer can be used to test and develop indie games.
“Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development,” Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten told Engadget. “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. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We’ll have more details on the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August.”
Early reports suggested that independent developers needed to be paired with a third party publisher or have a publishing deal with Microsoft, which was a major sticking point for many a indie developer who were ready to jump ship and develop exclusively for Sony’s PlayStation 4 (which never had any such requirement). It seems, once again, Microsoft has seen the error of their ways, much in the same way they reversed their polices on “always on” connectivity for their forthcoming next gen console.
(source: Engadget)
