Update: Fez Studio Rereleases Save-Corrupting Patch

kitsuta

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Jan 10, 2011
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Update: Fez Studio Rereleases Save-Corrupting Patch

[vimeo=40269839]Microsoft wants "tens of thousands of dollars" for Polytron to fix its game.

While patches for released games are normally meant to fix issues, they occasionally introduce new ones. Worst of these is the dreaded save killer, a patch that somehow corrupts existing saves when it's applied. Indie developer Polytron encountered this with its first patch for Fez, the colorful puzzle-platformer released on XBLA a few months ago. Microsoft pulled the offending patch [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118070-Microsoft-Pulls-Fez-Patch] a few weeks ago and Polytron promised to look into it. The good news is, the patch is going back online. The bad news is, it's the exact same patch.

Polytron cited the overwhelming costs of issuing a new patch, which requires re-certification and testing by Microsoft, which in turn would run the studio "tens of thousands of dollars." In its investigation of the bug, Polytron further determined that the savegame corruption affects less than one percent of players, only corrupting save files created without the patch near the end of the game. Polytron offered apologies to the players who are affected, stating that the move "breaks our hearts."

Polytron also expressed a degree of frustration with the situation, pointing out that this decision was necessitated by Microsoft's limited patching options. "Had Fez been released on Steam instead of XBLA," the developer stated, "the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us." The studio further explained that, rather than getting paid for exclusively releasing Fez on XBLA, money traveled the other way. "People often mistakenly believe that we got paid by Microsoft for being exclusive to their platform," Polytron stated. "Nothing could be further from the truth. WE pay THEM."

Update: Microsoft told Kotaku that it supports Polytron's and investor Trapdoor's decision to not release a new patch. It also stated, "while we do not disclose the cost of Title Updates, we did offer to work with Trapdoor to make sure that wasn't a blocking issue."

Source: Kotaku [http://polytroncorporation.com/were-not-going-to-patch-the-patch]

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Fappy

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Jan 4, 2010
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While the honestly is appreciated I can't imagine his comments will be well received. Not a very intelligent business move.
 

Worgen

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Whatever, just wash your hands.
Sounds like he went with the worst option for release, well he wouldn't be the first indie dev to get burned by ms.
 

Fasckira

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Oct 22, 2009
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Im sure this statement from Polytron will of course strengthen their ties with the Microsoft team.

Ultimately Polytron have had a lot of success from releasing from XBLA and while Microsoft's many layers of red-tape can be suffocating its something they would have been aware of before they decided to opt with an XBLA release. I do however doubt that MS are after "tens of thousands of dollars" to simply release a patch. I think there may be a tad more to whats happening behind the scenes here.
 

lacktheknack

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Jan 19, 2009
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kitsuta said:
Polytron cited the overwhelming costs of issuing a new patch, which requires re-certification and testing by Microsoft, which in turn would run the studio "tens of thousands of dollars."
He should sue them for so obviously NOT testing it the first time.

Then again, he'd probably never win. It's a shame.
 

The Droog

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lacktheknack said:
kitsuta said:
Polytron cited the overwhelming costs of issuing a new patch, which requires re-certification and testing by Microsoft, which in turn would run the studio "tens of thousands of dollars."
He should sue them for so utterly and obviously NOT testing it the first time.
Certification != QA
 

Azuaron

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kitsuta said:
"Had Fez been released on Steam instead of XBLA," the developer stated, "the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us." The studio further explained that, rather than getting paid for exclusively releasing Fez on XBLA, money traveled the other way. "People often mistakenly believe that we got paid by Microsoft for being exclusive to their platform," Polytron stated. "Nothing could be further from the truth. WE pay THEM."
So, uh, why the Hell did you release Fez as an exclusive on the platform with less flexibility that forces you to pay them for the privilege?
 

sethisjimmy

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May 22, 2009
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kitsuta said:
"People often mistakenly believe that we got paid by Microsoft for being exclusive to their platform," Polytron stated. "Nothing could be further from the truth. WE pay THEM."
Really? I suppose I get the attraction of XBLA, your game gets some free press if it's published there, but why would you pay them to be on there exclusively? Steam/practically any other method of distribution seems like it would be waaay better for this type of game. I agree with Fappy, seems like a dumb move on his part.
 

Baldr

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The bug only happens to less than 1%. Sometime you can have the best QA testers in the world, but it would not show up until it is released into the wild.
 

Haz88

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Somehow I actually think that the fact that the bug seemingly occurs for people near the end of the game is even worse. The frustration of seeing hours and hours disappear has made me so frustrated before that I didn't finish a game.
 

kitsuta

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Jan 10, 2011
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The Droog said:
lacktheknack said:
kitsuta said:
Polytron cited the overwhelming costs of issuing a new patch, which requires re-certification and testing by Microsoft, which in turn would run the studio "tens of thousands of dollars."
He should sue them for so utterly and obviously NOT testing it the first time.
Certification != QA
Correct. Microsoft tests the patch so it passes some basic quality standards - like making sure it doesn't somehow steal users' MSP, or something - but the developer still has some responsibility for the patch working smoothly. In this case though, the patch corrupts late-game saves that were created before the patch was applied, making it a pretty rare use-case and unlikely to be caught, even with thorough QA.
 
Mar 7, 2012
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Microsoft is being an asshole again? Who's surprised!?

You reconsidering releasing this on steam yet, Fish? Because then there will at least be community patches.
 

McMullen

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Saying the patch only corrupts saves near the end of the game is like saying the car's brakes fail only at speeds above 30 mph. No matter what the situation is, it sounds bad. Don't say that if you're trying to reassure your customers, ever.
 

Baldr

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Jan 6, 2010
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The certification fees are not the big deal. It is the distribution fees. Microsoft doesn't really charge developers for bandwidth for distribution. They also don't want developers continually releasing patches for games, that eats up bandwidth on the XBL servers. They want developers to really get it right the first time.
 

Ne1butme

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Azuaron said:
kitsuta said:
"Had Fez been released on Steam instead of XBLA," the developer stated, "the game would have been fixed two weeks after release, at no cost to us." The studio further explained that, rather than getting paid for exclusively releasing Fez on XBLA, money traveled the other way. "People often mistakenly believe that we got paid by Microsoft for being exclusive to their platform," Polytron stated. "Nothing could be further from the truth. WE pay THEM."
So, uh, why the Hell did you release Fez as an exclusive on the platform with less flexibility that forces you to pay them for the privilege?
Yup, came here to say that same thing. RELEASE IT ON STEAM!!!! Indie games get huge love on Steam.
 

MetalMagpie

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Elcarsh said:
Allthingsspectacular said:
Microsoft is being an asshole again? Who's surprised!?
I'm curious; how are MS being arseholes?

I see a developer with no business sense whatsoever and a shitty excuse for releasing a patch that fucks up the game completely for some of the players. Where does MS enter into this?
Exactly. It's striking that people are so quick to jump in on the side of Polytron and blame a problem with their game on Microsoft!

I personally find it quite childish of Polytron to whine now about terms they happily signed up to when they released the game. It smacks of trying to distract everyone from the fact they're not fixing the save-destroying problem.

"Well, we're not going to fix that problem because it would be too expensive... But you know who's a bunch of arseholes? Microsoft! Yeah, we made the decision to release on their platform and we agreed to the terms governing any patches. But they're still arseholes so yell at them instead of us!"
 
Mar 7, 2012
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Elcarsh said:
Allthingsspectacular said:
Microsoft is being an asshole again? Who's surprised!?
I'm curious; how are MS being arseholes?

I see a developer with no business sense whatsoever and a shitty excuse for releasing a patch that fucks up the game completely for some of the players. Where does MS enter into this?
It's because of Microsoft's shitty policies regarding patches and new content.

I'm not on Polytron's side, I just hate Microsoft.