Microsoft Confirms Self-Publishing on Xbox One

[Vivi22]

So indie's can self publish, but how expensive, time consuming, and transparent is the certification process going to be for them?

Because it's easy to say that they don't need a publisher, but a whole other thing to make the process affordable and painless for them. And let's be honest here, it was anything but on the 360. Games would frequently fail certification with little to no explanation as to why leaving people to guess, and for a lot of companies, the whole thing was too expensive without a publisher. When Microsoft says they've fixed all of that sort of silly bullshit, then I'll be impressed with the progress they're making. As it is, this may be nothing more than a meaningless wording change and simple lip service to appease people that they may never follow through on actually delivering properly.

 

[LordMonty]

Now do away with the NSA camara(got it banned in germany) and then i'm sure people can be at peace with the xbox flogging.

But we'll see as with all this bad press that has stung the image of xbox/microsoft lets see what it does to the real matter of its sales? people can still speak on how they feel when componies try and screw with there rights and expectations and well also the price probally won't help them either. But its a hell of a brand.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

You can self publish, but I'd wager that it'd just go into a pit where nobody would ever find them on Xbox Live. The certification process will also cost several arms and legs in order to act as some form of quality control.

 

[lacktheknack]

But Microsoft's latest Xbox One about-race changes all that,

Not sure if racist...

OT: Cool. I wonder if that will entice the disillusioned already-been-there indie developers. (Probably not.)

 

[BrotherRool]

Well it's good to see competition in action. It's just weird that it's all one way, with one side scrambling to promise all the stuff the other people promised from the get go. And even with all this, a PS4 is still $100 cheaper thanks to the non-mandatory camera

 

[shirkbot]

I have come to the conclusion that people aren't very objective any more.

Welcome to Humanity. Terribly sorry, but rational thinking isn't really our strong suit...

OT: This is fantastic news for Indy devs, even Kotaku's comments section is full of XB haters praising MS for this.

All snark aside, I agree. This is a major policy reversal for the better, and it's even a reversal from the 360 where the "Publishers Only" policy was originally implemented. But I agree with in that they need to cut this nonsense with the "Xbox First" deals.

Almost there. Take it one further step - Ban the use of "Xbox first" contracts. You know what I'm talking about - Those agreements where indies or even big-time publishers have to wait a month to a year before they're allowed to release to other consoles or PC.

It's just bad business sense. The devs lose money from having to port post-public attention and MS loses money because there's no cross-platform interest.

 

[Alpha Maeko]

Microsoft: "Control and money!"

Sony: "Fun and games!"

Microsoft: "Uh... buh... wait... uh.. fun and games!!!11one"

Customer: "Too late, I'm getting a PS4 or whatever."

Microsoft: ... "um.... uh... self publishing?..."

EVERYONE IN THE WORLD: "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY"

 

[faefrost]

Oh, looks like Microsoft is really scared of Sony. I gotta say, I enjoy this console drama.

Microsoft just lost a hair under a $1 Billion on the hardware debacle that is the surface. Not to mention that all of their distribution and business partners for their core Windows product literally want them dead in a bag and dumped off a bridge following Windows 8. They aren't scared of SONY. They are terrified of their stockholders and their board of directors.

This and these other reversals are not because we the fans complained. Remember they told us to "Deal With It". It's because their stockholders are starting to ask questions that they are racing to plug holes in the boat and prove to them that "See No Problem Here! Independent Dev's Love US! SEE!"

 

[Baldr]

This is not a reversal. They said they were getting rid of the current publish system, and at the time they were not announcing any plans, but will in the future. Now it the future and they are announcing their new system(sort of).

This is in line at what I was told about the Xbox One long time ago when the old system was being replaced to stay in contact with my Microsoft Evangelist and they were not abandoning indie developers.

 

[Innegativeion]

How many more reversals can MS end up doing? I mean yes this is a good thing that the Indie developers now get to self-publish, but this should have been the fact from the get go and with the huge hissy fit they were throwing a lot of people are just gonna look down on this as a feeble attempt to try and get some people to go and develop more for the Xbox One.

Really, while it's a good thing this is still too little too late.

Indeed. I was actually just as insulted by their attempt to rigidly control game development for the console as I was for always-online, no-used-games, and the obvious ad data gathering devi- I mean Kinect. That is to say, a lot.

But merely the fact that Microsoft thought this was okay may very well make me quite wary to EVER seeking publishing from Microsoft once I'm out of college.

 

[deadish]

Well it's good to see competition in action. It's just weird that it's all one way, with one side scrambling to promise all the stuff the other people promised from the get go. And even with all this, a PS4 is still $100 cheaper thanks to the non-mandatory camera

And have a GPU that's 50% more powerful in addition to having a less complicated to work with memory architecture.

 

[MCerberus]

The more people turn the screws on Microsoft, the less offensive their offerings become.

 

[Revolutionary]

I'm not really following news on Xbox One that much, but is there a single major contraversial thing left that wasn't changed/canceled since E3?

The Kinect is still being touted as an "integral and essential component of the xbox one" and thus is still force-bundled with the console and beefing the price up by $100.

The Kinect will still be watching you play for the purpose of targeting ads at you.

There may be some others.

Except it isn't, they've said that you don't *need* a kinect and have even announced a bundle that doensn't include a kinect if you don't want one.

OT: This is good, they're not going to be able to compete with PC in terms of indie friendliness but still it's a step in the right direction.

EDIT: Turns out the kinectless bundle was just a rumor. I remembered it as being a fact for some reason.

 

[Roxas1359]

Except it isn't, they've said that you don't *need* a kinect and have even announced a bundle that doensn't include a kinect if you don't want one.

Don't know where you get that idea from given this news story that has been going around for a few hours now:
http://www.vg247.com/2013/07/24/xbox-one-bundles-to-release-in-summer-2014-without-kinect-report/

It was a rumor that was going around that they were making that, and MS have confirmed that it is false, so yes Kinect is still mandatory.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I'm not really following news on Xbox One that much, but is there a single major contraversial thing left that wasn't changed/canceled since E3?

The Kinect is still being touted as an "integral and essential component of the xbox one" and thus is still force-bundled with the console and beefing the price up by $100.

The Kinect will still be watching you play for the purpose of targeting ads at you.

There may be some others.

Except it isn't, they've said that you don't *need* a kinect and have even announced a bundle that doensn't include a kinect if you don't want one.

OT: This is good, they're not going to be able to compete with PC in terms of indie friendliness but still it's a step in the right direction.

Mind telling me where you got that info? Complaints about a mandatory kinect are quite widespread and you are the first person I've heard to say that a kinect-less version is in the works.

 

[RicoADF]

It's "about-face" not "about-race"

I don't know, it seems that it actually is a race between which of their policies they can do an about face with the fastest

OT: Good to hear, now just the one big fat elephant left in the room to be killed and the XBone could one day maybe end up in my house.... during a sale when I'm drunk enough....

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I'm not really following news on Xbox One that much, but is there a single major contraversial thing left that wasn't changed/canceled since E3?

The Kinect is still being touted as an "integral and essential component of the xbox one" and thus is still force-bundled with the console and beefing the price up by $100.

The Kinect will still be watching you play for the purpose of targeting ads at you.

There may be some others.

Except it isn't, they've said that you don't *need* a kinect and have even announced a bundle that doensn't include a kinect if you don't want one.

OT: This is good, they're not going to be able to compete with PC in terms of indie friendliness but still it's a step in the right direction.

I know it's Kotaku but: http://kotaku.com/microsoft-shoots-down-rumors-of-kinect-free-xbox-one-bu-897031441

Microsoft never announced a version without the Kinect, that was just a rumor, unfortunately. Not that I want their machine.

 

[Erttheking]

It's amusing to me that even if MS revealed the console cured cancer, people would still be like

"Well they were pro-cancer in the first place, I don't care about the cancer thing I'm still getting a PS4"

I have come to the conclusion that people aren't very objective any more. I'm personally waiting til release to see what we end up with then making my decision. I haven't pre-judged anything as of yet.


OT: This is fantastic news for Indy devs, even Kotaku's comments section is full of XB haters praising MS for this.

It's a case of too little too late. MS has just insulted my intelligence too much.