Microsoft seems to be tripping over itself with all of its back-pedaling since its less-than-thrilling debut at E3 alongside Sony's PS4. The company has already gone back on its restriction policies from the Xbox One including constant online connectivity and the mountain of red tape it would take to share games. The latest in Microsoft's reversal policies comes with the inclusion of "indie" games on the next generation console.
Microsoft had previously said it would only allow games from recognized publishers on the Xbox One. However, Marc Whiten, corporate vice president of Xbox has now announced that the company will not follow through on that idea.
"Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox Live. This means self-publishing," Whiten said in a statement.
According to BBC News, Microsoft plans to make more announcements regarding self-publishing in August at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Although he has said the console won't be able to support development upon the console's launch in November.
In any case, this will be a solid move for Microsoft as it will help make the pool of next generation games a bit more diverse. Will Freeman, editor of Develop, a magazine for the game developer industry told the BBC, "This is certainly an exciting move by Microsoft and will help democratize games development. But making a game is one thing, getting it played by lots of people is another. What really matters is Microsoft's policy towards distribution."
The move is really another way for Microsoft to not be trumped by Sony's PS4, which has been considered by many developers to be "indie-friendly." In May, the company announced it would introduce an indie game section in the PlayStation Store and allow self-publishing on the PS4 console. Both are expected to launched in November just in time for the holiday season.
In June, Microsoft stopped charging developers for updating their games on the Xbox 360 in a sign that it was responding to criticism from the indie-gaming community. Now the fences are down for indie-developers, only time will tell what opportunities this new policy will offer gamers.
