Wow! I mean all I can say is wow! In what has seemed like something that was destined to be a huge mistake for Microsoft, it appears they’re trying to get in the good graces of indie developers. Today Microsoft has confirmed that you’ll be able to self publish on the Xbox One and that each console it’s releasing will double as a developer debug unit. Xbox Corporate VP Marc Whitten said,
“Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We’ll have more details on the program and the timeline at gamescom in August.”
Basically this is one of many things Microsoft has been rolled back when trying to get things right. Their original publishing requirements didn’t allow any self publishing but it seems they realized that this, along with their DRM policy, was a big mistake. This is a great, and much needed, move by Microsoft because we’re likely to see a huge influx of indie games this generation. Anything you can do to give the developers new opportunities, and make them happy, will surely reflect well on the system.
via engadget