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MS confirms indie program for XB1, was a big GamesCom surprise, angry at GI for leak

DPJ

Banned
If they have an indie self publishing program ready, why wait to announce it? Surely it's the sort of thing they'd want out there asap to counter continued bad sentiment among indies.

Hardly much of a "surprise" when you're the last one to the party after all.
 
If this was the big reveal at gamescon, then meh. This isn't really exciting since Sony and Nintendo already offer it. I think they need to focus more on Kinect, E3 and the reveal had nothing for it.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
I do hope they have some other GamesCom surprises in the pipeline now this one has leaked, it's sad that they didn't get their big reveal and "oh-shit!" moment.

This shouldn't have been a huge announcement to begin with. I have no idea why they thought otherwise.

I mean, it's great news pending further details, but this is something that should have happened a long while ago.
 

Daingurse

Member
I hope Sony copies the every system can become a dev kit idea, that's a really nice idea and finally a forward thinking plan from Microsoft. Their first for Xbox One, as far as I'm scoring it.

That's really great, gotta give Microsoft props for that. Good lord, they might start making positive ground in their mindshare if they keep this up.
 

kazebyaka

Banned
It's all nice and dandy, but does it mean that hackers can more easily understand the system with accessible devkits and potentially enable pirate games and live hacks? Doesn't sound very safe to me.
 
There is no way a retail Xbox One can be a dev kit for full can be a dev kit for full sized Xbox One games. That kind of nails it that it will be for Win 8 app games.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
So over to you Nintendo and WiiU. Allow indie devs to turn the normal retail WiiU into a dev kit instead of forking out $3000 for one.
 

derFeef

Member
If they have an indie self publishing program ready, why wait to announce it? Surely it's the sort of thing they'd want out there asap to counter continued bad sentiment among indies.

Hardly much of a "surprise" when you're the last one to the party after all.

Show it with a bang at Gamescom was the plan apparently, with some devs on stage.
 
I am sure Unity will be supported. That would be pretty awesome tbh.

No, I mean will there be any game engine that is supplied with a console-dev kit?
Currently you can't buy a unity license engine without going through one of their supported partners. So either you still have to buy a license, use something other than unity or get a licensing by having MS publishing.
 

Withnail

Member
All good stuff. Though I suspect this is more of an upgraded XBLIG rather than a real change of policy on indie publishing. We need to see the small print.
 

Raide

Member
If they have an indie self publishing program ready, why wait to announce it? Surely it's the sort of thing they'd want out there asap to counter continued bad sentiment among indies.

Hardly much of a "surprise" when you're the last one to the party after all.

Maybe they want to tie the announcement in with actually show some dev titles and they needed more time? Also having more exposure at the event is better than it just leaking beforehand.

No, I mean will there be any game engine that is supplied with a console-dev kit?
Currently you can't buy a unity license engine without going through one of their supported partners. So either you still have to buy a license, use something other than unity or get a licensing by having MS publishing.

I see what you mean. Hrmmm...
 
"Things break"

I guess MS isn't a fan of someone else gaining secret information of theirs.

aNeZ8Mw_460sa.gif
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
There is no way a retail Xbox One can be a dev kit for full can be a dev kit for full sized Xbox One games. That kind of nails it that it will be for Win 8 app games.

Most likely you need a dev kit for full sized games but any console can make apps.
 

Raide

Member
How can a retail Xbone be a full-functioning dev kit? That just sounds like an invitation to hackers and modders.

I think there will probably have to be some work between a developer and MS before they just unlock the console. MS are bound to authorize and probably also demand an internet connection for support/update purposes.
 
Could the whole limited to 3 gb thing be there because every unit could be a dev unit? Dont normal dev units have more ram for whatever reason? Using a regular unit as dev they have to take some available ram away for those purposes where in a dev unit you have extra ram for it? So they have to take 2 gb away for it to become a dev unit so you only have 3 for the game. Not a tech person this could make no sense idk
 

Das-J

Law of the West
VERY interesting. The deviation in revenue split could have a massive impact on support though...

Still, if they address that issue and they way they treat indies as a whole they're on the right track.

Can't wait to hear more at Gamescom!
 

Takuya

Banned
I think there will probably have to be some work between a developer and MS before they just unlock the console. MS are bound to authorize and probably also demand an internet connection for support/update purposes.
There will be more limits unless they decide to go and add an additional amount of memory to par it up with current dev kits. There is definitely some fine print that is missing from this story.
 
Could the whole limited to 3 gb thing be there because every unit could be a dev unit? Dont normal dev units have more ram for whatever reason? Using a regular unit as dev they have to take some available ram away for those purposes where in a dev unit you have extra ram for it? So they have to take 2 gb away for it to become a dev unit so you only have 3 for the game. Not a tech person this could make no sense idk

The whole limited to 3Gb thing is because we're talking about WinRT apps and not Xbone games.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Hence this is not self-publishing but Microsoft shilling their dead-end app store.

Pretty sure they're two different things. You don't need a dev kit to make W8 apps, but need one to make games. You don't need a publisher for either. They're two different points.
 

twinturbo2

butthurt Heat fan
Phil Fish official comment. Fez 2 probably still not coming to Xbox.
https://twitter.com/phil_fish/status/360140554341851136
He's throwing away free money. I mean, I know how badly MS burned him over the patch and all, but if the PS4 and X1 both have X86 architecture and AMD graphics, why cut off that revenue stream if all things are equal?

As long as it comes out on Steam, I won't miss a chance to play Fez II, but still, revenue streams.
 
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