Eurogamer

Microsoft has unveiled its Xbox One indie developer self-publishing program.

Microsoft said it met with more than 50 developers to learn what they wanted from a self-publishing program, and ID@Xbox, as it's known, is the result.

Under the new rules, each registered developer will receive two development kits at no cost, and developers will have access to the full power of the console, cloud services, Kinect and the Xbox Live toolset, which includes Xbox SmartGlass, multiplayer, Achievements and Gamerscore, among other things.

Applications to the ID@Xbox Program will be accepted from 20th August atwww.xbox.com/id. If a developer is accepted, it will become a registered Xbox One developer.

Microsoft said this status will be granted "with priority" to independent game developers "who have a proven track record of shipping games on console, PC, mobile or tablet", suggesting Microsoft has stopped short of creating a true open platform in the vein of the App Store.

Crucially, there are no application fees, and as with Xbox 360, there are no fees for certification or title updates.

Developers will also benefit from a global support team, headed up by ID@Xbox director Chris Charla. Charla's brief is to maintain personal communication with developers. Community managers will provide quick responses to submissions, and a number of events are planned to explain how the process will work.

A chief concern among indie devs is how their games will be discovered by gamers who use the Xbox One.

Microsoft said all games are located together on the Xbox One Store, and "rich search scenarios" using voice through Kinect will enable easy discoverability.

Trending will showcase what friends and the community are playing, Recommendations will bring forward new games based on what you like to play, Spotlight showcases Editor Picks and, with the Xbox One's Game DVR and Upload feature, new games will be found as gamers capture and share videos. Developers will also be able to create special events out of Achievements and Challenges.

The initial phase of the program will begin this autumn, but longer term Microsoft plans to enable any Xbox One console to be used as a development kit for self-publishing purposes. "This means that any hobbyist with a great game idea can make it come to life on Xbox One," Microsoft said.

"We know Xbox fans will fall in love with the quality and diversity of games on our platform," Marc Whitten, Xbox Chief Product Officer, said. "We are committed to ID@Xbox and are fully invested in helping independent developers succeed on Xbox One."

Microsoft EMEA boss Phil Harrison added: "I am really looking forward to the diversity and creativity of games that will come to Xbox One through the ID@Xbox program. We've worked with the community of developers to craft a platform that helps creators self-publish on Xbox One - irrespective of their size or location."

One indie developer already convinced by Microsoft's new initiative is SpyParty creator Chris Hecker: "I'm really excited that Microsoft has listened to feedback from developers and created this program," he said.

"As an independent developer, I want SpyParty to be available to as many players as possible, and it feels like Microsoft is interested in not only removing roadblocks for indies to get their games on Xbox One, but they're also genuinely interested in finding ways to bring new and innovative indie games to their platform to help games reach their potential as an art and entertainment form."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-20-microsoft-unveils-xbox-one-indie-developer-self-publishing-program

Don't see a downside here. Sounds like they nailed it. Again.

Id say the indie front is pretty much covered by MS, and then some.

that's exactly why I think Sony didn't show anything compelling today.... yeah good for them they paid of for some indie exclu like MS paid of for some DLC exclu.... bottom line MS will have plenty of indie if last gen indie was broken... when you see how it succeeded I have no worries for the coming gen.... bottom line beside raw power I see more value to the XB1 and it's gaining more in my eyes every day with every announcement.... Sony looks stagnant to me...

They've come a long ways in such a short time. Kind of impressive. Of course, this would have had a lot more impact if they'd thought of listening to developers several months ago. This shouldn't be coming together right before launch.

Still, positive change is positive change.

Isn't Xbox 360 the biggest Arcade/Indie hub on consoles? Just want a clarification.

Yeah, the scrambling kind of worries me in a sense, they are rushing this stuff, and doing last minute changes, and that always generally leads to some slew of probalems... But we'll see how this develops over time. And Indeed... positive change is good, but you can't help but almost look at it in a "the damage was already done" kind of context, you know? Curious to see what is going to happen as time progresses. 

It goes back to Ron Carmel's (World of Goo) study in 2011 which indicated that indie interest in Xbox was declining, possibly because interest in Sony was going up.  The same study rated Steam (Very Easy) the highest in terms of how easy it was to work with a platform, while XBLA (Excruciating) got the second lowest.  Sony averaged out to So-So, though they've made a lot of changes since then.

It's pretty much accepted that Microsoft had grown stagnant while other platform holders had been improving the way they handled smaller developers.

Well ... maybe.  I think it's more of a 'yes and no' kind of answer.  Some developers have been very positive about Microsoft's new plans, a few have been negative, but I think most are kind of cautiously optimistic.  I've read a few who have basically said that they're ready to listen.  Most developers want to make money, which means that they want to be on as many platforms as possible, so I think real progress on Microsoft's part will pay off.

It probably doesn't look good that they waited until the negative PR started piling up to do anything, though.

Thats essentially what I was referring to, in terms of not only developers, but most importantly the public eye as well.