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Forums - Microsoft - Microsoft stopped charging for Xbox 360 game updates earlier this year

Nsanity on 27 June 2013

Copy and pasted from NeoGaf

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...xbox-360-games

Microsoft no longer charges developers for Xbox 360 title updates, Eurogamer has been told by multiple development sources.

Microsoft made the policy change on the quiet earlier this year after charging developers tens of thousands of dollars to patch their games.

Microsoft has always charged a fee when developers first submit their games to Microsoft's certification process so they can be approved for release, and the company normally grants developers one title update free of charge. This remains the case, but sources have told Eurogamer that subsequent re-certification as a result of a title update is now free. This applies to Xbox Live Arcade games and full retail games.

There are caveats, we understand. If a developer is deemed to be making an excessive number of re-submissions due to an update failing certification, for example, Microsoft reserves the right to issue a charge. But the changes should make critics of Microsoft's closed platform happier - and align the Xbox ecosystem more closely with the likes of Steam.

OXM UK have confirmed this with their own sources: http://www.oxm.co.uk/57153/microsoft...-games-report/

Microsoft has quietly dropped its policy of charging developers to patch Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Arcade games, according to multiple Eurogamer contacts. We've reached out to our own contacts, and they've corroborated the report.



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NiKKoM on 27 June 2013

I don't like that.. developers this last gen have been so sloppy and they fix that with day one patches.. this was a thing to a least have them to produce better, bug free games when they are released..



 

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ethomaz on 27 June 2013

That's a good news and I expect they maintain to Xbone too.

Devs will be happy.



ethomaz on 27 June 2013
NiKKoM said:
I don't like that.. developers this last gen have been so sloppy and they fix that with day one patches.. this was a thing to a least have them to produce better, bug free games when they are released..

360 have day one patches so I think that didn't help at all.



walsufnir on 27 June 2013

So anti-consumer and anti-dev... Oh wait! It's a good thing!
I always thought having the way superior patch-system would cost ms a lot to maintain so they wanted money from devs but this is definitely good for everyone.



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NobleTeam360 on 27 June 2013

Good to hear.



the2real4mafol on 27 June 2013

Why would they charge for patches? Also, there has been far too many patches over the last few years



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foodfather on 27 June 2013

This isn't a good thing. Developers should be encouraged to ship the game in proper working order. This gen developers have been very sloppy with this.



Barozi on 27 June 2013
the2real4mafol said:
Why would they charge for patches? Also, there has been far too many patches over the last few years

They need to go through Microsoft's certification process to make sure that they don't add anything that would have an impact no the rating of the game, to increase the likelyhood that (especially mid- and low-tier) devs don't release unfinished games at launch. The patches are hosted on MS servers, so it causes them traffic (and thus money). etc.



Mr Puggsly on 27 June 2013
foodfather said:
This isn't a good thing. Developers should be encouraged to ship the game in proper working order. This gen developers have been very sloppy with this.

Well the fees were no big deal to Triple A developers. It didn't stop them from releasing buggy games. This news is mostly great for smaller developers.

The developer of Fez claimed they didn't patch some bugs because expensive fees. However, MS claimed the Fez developers said the game was complete. Regardless, this eliminates that potential problem.



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