Indie developers who have already published their games on non-Xbox platforms are much more welcome now

Mar 6, 2015 15:56 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft seems to be a little more lax when it comes to enforcing the infamous platform parity clause for independent video game developers.

The way things used to be, if you wanted to self-publish a game on either the Xbox 360 or Xbox One, the clause specified that the game would have to be released at the same time on all platforms.

Phil Spencer and other execs said that the clause was there in order to make Xbox owners feel like "first class" citizens, which meant that oftentimes indie devs would choose not to release their games on Xbox platforms.

For small studios, having to develop multiple versions of a game in parallel is an impossible task. Building one edition is hard enough, and most studios simply don't have the necessary resources to fork out development to others or to release PC and console ports at the same time.

Games initially released on other platforms were not allowed on the ID@Xbox self-publishing program, which led many developers and gamers to criticize the draconian terms of the contract.

Now, ID@XBox boss Chris Charla says that the terms are by no means as bad as they sound, and that many exceptions to the rule have been made.

The general public spoke against the policy pretty strongly, and it seems that Microsoft has taken the feedback into account, and it's now welcoming indie developers who have already published their titles on other platforms.

The clause has been criticized quite harshly by the community

During this year's Game Developer Conference, several high-profile independent games were announced for the Xbox One, including inXile Entertainment's post-apocalyptic role-playing game Wasteland 2 and Frontier Developments' space opera game Elite: Dangerous.

But the doors are open to smaller project too, as can be attested by Shovel Knight, a tiny retro styled platformer that borrows heavily from the Nintendo Entertainment System Era.

Speaking to Gamespot, Charla emphasizes that nothing has really changed about the terms of self-publishing, and that developers just need to approach the company on an individual basis.

"If it's a situation where a developer needs to ship serially on console because they don't have the resources to simultaneously ship, we totally get that. It's no problem," he points out.

The only thing Microsoft asks is that developers add something to the game to make it feel fresh for Xbox players, who might have already tried the title on other platforms, if the Xbox version comes out significantly later than on other devices. One such example is the upcoming Battletoads content coming to Shovel Knight.

Furthermore, the ID@XBox program has been extended to Windows 10, and Charla also mentioned that there would be no restrictions regarding platform parity for PC developers.