Microsoft changing self-publishing policies, says developer

An unnamed developer close to the Xbox One development team has announced that the company is in the process of analysing their policies regarding self-publishing of indie games on the Xbox Live marketplace. The developer, who spoke to GameReactor and wished to remain anonymous, is in the process of negotiating for his/her own game to be self-published on the Xbox Live network.

The new policy now splits independent development houses into groups based on how big or small their development teams and budget are. A selection process will be put in place to make sure that the larger independent studios will not be able to simply publish anything they would like – there would be a selection and vetting process to make sure that the marketplace isn’t flooded.

In the future, a self-published indie game may find its way into the Home screen on the Xbox One’s dash.

The smaller development studios will be able to release their games as soon as they’re done. Additionally, GameReactor reports that the same developer is also trying to get the cost of development kits for the Xbox One to a more affordable price. Currently, signing up for the SDK which includes a developer unit and all the software tools and training you’d need to get started would set you back US $10,000.

If you’re just a one-man team, this means that you’re far more likely to put your time into cheaper or possible free platforms that won’t require such a large up-front payment.

Playstation seems to have the greener grass

Sony’s Playstation platform seems to be the more developer-friendly version of the two. The Playstation Network allows for developers to self-publish games and if you’re on their hot list, Sony allows you to use their Twitter, Facebook and Google+ accounts for advertising from time to time.

Mark Cerny at the PS4 reveal

Sony in addition was more friendly to small, independent studios at their E3 conference, showing off a total of eight indie games coming to PSN during 2014 and making note of how they were supporting these smaller studios by giving them development kits and assisting them with developing their titles.

Mark Cerny, the self-professed architect of the PS4, said at the GameLab 2013 conference that the company is earnestly working with developers for the PS4 to make sure that they can get their titles off the ground and selling as quickly as possible, using a measurement called “Time to Triangle” to determine how long development should take.