It's not 30% it's 70% because he signed Braid before MS made changes.

Also, this is from Saturday, the sales of the game as of yesterday were over 50,000.

@Jlmadyson: Wasn't it supposed to effect all contracts? Or am i just wrong with this one.

Not ones that were already signed and sealed beforehand. Not retroactive. On a side note he signed it well over a year ago IIRC.

So there you go, he's made a fortune...already

:)

Is there a detailed list anywhere of the restrictions placed by XBL, or the hoops that games have to jump through before being released on XBL?

@Arcturus

The closest youre going to get is straight from the JB's own mouth (er keyboard).

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19748

Read his comments at the end of the article.

@EaglesEye379: Thanks for sharing that article. He shares some interesting points about the restrictions and hoops he had to jump through, and he even goes on a bit of a rant.

Arcturus -

Then he states that he didn't want to appear so anti-Microsoft.

The issue is that Microsoft has a FAR more global approach to game releases than PSN or WiiWare does, which causes the issues. When a game gets certified by Microsoft, it has to pass a large battery of tests, and ratings boards before the game can launch. Microsoft doesn't do staggered launches, everything is global (with the exception of a few games not going to Korea or Japan).

Sony and Nintendo, on the other hand, have many launches that never come to the US, Japan, or Europe. This winds up being bad for the consumer, since many games are delayed months before winding up in certain markets.

The reason Microsoft has changed the way the revenue cuts have changed is to offset these extra costs. It used to be 50/50 if you had Microsoft help port your system to XBLA, and 70/30 if you did everything yourself. Now it/s 70/30 if you do it yourself, and 30/70 if Microsoft helps. However, Microsoft is doing a lot more for that 20% extra percent, which includes taking care of the ratings boards.

I don't think JB follows the XBLA market to understand that games on XBLA have incredible legs, and his game will be profitable in a very short timespan. Mostly, I think he's just trying to get owners sympathetic towards Braid, to sell more copies.

With 50,000+ units sold, Braid is either making him money now, or very, VERY close.

He didn't create game alone as you claim. There was a team (although small) making a game so he gets only small part of the money.

A bit off-topic, but since he reads up sales on this site, do you think we could contact him for an interview? Who does that sort of thing?