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Rumor: Self-Publishing Might Come To Xbox 360
Earlier this week, Microsoft confirmed that the ability to self-publish independent games will be coming to Xbox One. It appears that self-publishing might be coming to Xbox 360, as well.
In a post on the Steam message boards for The Pinball Arcade, developer FarSight Studios addressed its game's disappearance on Xbox Live, and how it will be able to return thanks to a new publishing policies from Microsoft.
Our publisher for the 360 version recently emerged from bankruptcy and we'd been told that we would be allowed to immediately submit all of the unreleased Table Packs to our long-suffering 360 users. Unfortunately, Microsoft has elected to revoke the publisher's license agreement (which is why the Pinball Arcade is temporarily not available in the store). However, we have some very good news to share- Microsoft has just announced that indie developers (like FarSight) can now self-publish on Xbox Live Arcade instead of being required to find publishers for their games.
We reached out to FarSight Studios to confirm its statement on the Steam message boards. Vice president of product development Robert King replied, "Sorry, but we cannot confirm independent publishing on 360. We don't know for sure. We are just optimistically hoping for it." Following up on the contradictory nature of the two messages, King declined further comment saying, "We are hopeful that we can bring the Pinball Arcade back to the 360 ourselves."
We have reached out to Microsoft for confirmation on this rumor.
Our Take
Microsoft's new found appreciation for independent developers is good news for everyone. If this is true, it will be easier for small developers to get their games into the Xbox Live Marketplace, consumers will have more products to choose from, and Microsoft will have more games to sell. Hopefully this proves to be more than just a rumor, but King's statement is contraditcory to FarSight's comments on the Steam message boards, which is confusing. If there is one positive thing can be said about Microsoft's recent public interactions, it is at least the company is consistently confusing.
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