Xbox One Indie Self-Publishing On The Way

While it was reported back in May that indie developers wouldn't be able to self-publish on the Xbox One, Microsoft has come back and confirmed that this is not the case. In fact, the Xbox One will indeed support indie game developers to self-publish their work, and the company is starting up its own program for just that.

Microsoft's vice president of Xbox, Marc Whitten, confirmed the news said that "every person can be a creator," and the company wants "every game and experience to take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox Live." This includes self-publishing, as well as Kinect, cloud abilities, and achievements.

Whitten said that more details about self-publishing would be revealed at Gamescom in August, where Microsoft has been scheduled to appear and reveal even more details about the Xbox One. Previously, the Xbox 360's Arcade section was most made up of smaller games by larger publishers and there was hardly any room for small indie devs to make a difference.

That'll no longer be the case this time around with the Xbox One. Whitten also revealed that "every Xbox One can be used for development," which means that when you buy an Xbox One at launch, it will also be able to run game code and debug it. This is huge, as debug versions of consoles can usually cost way more than their retail counterparts.

This is another huge win for gamers, as they'll be able to play the latest and greatest indie games on the cheap. By now, Microsoft has pulled a reversal on all of their previous policies that went unliked, which is good, but will gamers still hold resentment toward Microsoft at launch, considering that the company tried to get away with these new policies?

SOURCE: Major Nelson