Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Developers And Fans React To Microsoft's Xbox Indie Reversal
Right after we broke the story of Microsoft's reversal on the Xbox indie self-publishing policy, social media lit up. Developers and fans alike chimed in, off the cuff. Prepared statements are great (and we have a couple ourselves), but the raw reactions are important.
Before we get to that, we want to share two quotes from developers that had worked with Microsoft previously, but have since begun working with Sony for various reasons. Both Klei Entertainment and Just Add Water were presented at Sony's press conference, and the founders of both provided their reactions to the news about Microsoft's latest policy shift.
"That is good news indeed! I suppose the real test is in discoverability of the games on the dashboard."
- Jamie Cheng, Founder, Klei Entertainment (Don't Starve)
"This news, whilst awesome is a long way from being detailed. Personally I need to know the full details before we can commit to announcing Oddworld titles for the Xbox family."
- Stewart Gilray, Founder, Just Add Water (Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty)
"I think it's a step in the right direction but the devil is in the details. If the revenue share is 50/50, that's absolutely horrible and by far the worst split out there. If the SDK forces you to go through some abstraction layer like XNA to get to the hardware, that's also horrible and would be of no interest to me. Fingers crossed for a 70/30 split and a good SDK...otherwise I'll stick to everything else."
- Tommy Refenes, Team Meat co-founder (Super Meat Boy)
Now, onto the responses right after the announcement. What you'll see below is a small collection of immediate responses from people. These aren't reactions to a request for a quote. They are raw responses to exciting news.
Benjamin Cousins, Head of European Game Studios at DeNA
Brian Fargo, Founder, inXile Entertainment
Stephen Toulouse, Former Xbox LIVE Director of Enforcement
Abel Drew, Founder, An Indie Game Company
Grant Egglestone, Developer, Dubit Limited
Borut Pfeifer, Worked With 17-bit Studios on Skulls of the Shogun
We also kept an eye on the community reactions, and there were some insightful (and amusing) responses.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
