Ridiculous Fishing Dev Criticizes ID@Xbox Launch Parity

[roseofbattle]

Ridiculous Fishing Dev Criticizes ID@Xbox Launch Parity

Launching a game on multiple platforms simultaneously can be hazardous for independent developers.

Indies are becoming more mainstream. To offer more diverse games, Microsoft reached out to independent developers with its ID@Xbox initiative, an Xbox One publishing program. However, one clause of the ID@Xbox contract stipulates that a game being published through the program should launch on Xbox One the same day as all other platforms. Independent developer Vlambeer, known for games such as Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box, has decided to push against this clause and release games to platforms at its own pace.

When Microsoft first discussed bringing Vlambeer's next game Nuclear Throne to Xbox One, the developer had heard mentions of a launch parity clause, Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail told Joystiq. Games already signed to another platform are an exception to the clause. "Before we signed with Microsoft, we emailed Sony that we quickly wanted to sign Nuclear Throne with them with a month of exclusivity," Ismail said.

This follows the news of Microsoft's first ID@Xbox developers. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130235-Microsoft-Reveals-First-Wave-of-ID-XBOX-Developers] Ismail still appreciates Microsoft's intentions to reach out to independent developers thanks to the program's director Chris Charla, who Ismail says is a person who "genuinely cares about games" and welcomes criticism.

"We'd rather Microsoft allow us not only the freedom to self-publish, but also to publish in whatever order we prefer," Ismail said. "We'll keep pushing for Microsoft to drop the clause, and we'd recommend any other developer to do the same."

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2013/12/04/xbox-one-same-day-launch-clause-nudged-nuclear-throne-to-ps4/]


Permalink

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Hmm...How different are the Dev Kits between PS4 and Xbone anyway? I understand that would be one of the key factors in the added pressure a Simultaneous launch would cause.

 

[BrotherRool]

I mean, c'mon, Vlambeer is one of the few selected in the top 10% of applicants to pass Microsoft's "rigorous selection process" and should show a little gratitude for the exposure that Microsoft is willing to grant them over the several hundred other rejected applicants.

Or something. I don't know. Whatever. Maybe they should just stop agreeing to Microsoft's bullshit like every other person who's agreed to the XBone EULA bullshit.

He should show gratitude that the competitor to a company who put him on stage to advertise his game as a strength of their console, is also being 'allowed' to release his game for the other console? =D

I think what he did here is a smart move. In between choosing to sign some BS EULA or not releasing a game on that platform at all most people are going to release the game, but by bringing some publicity to the situation (and it sounds like he's already been telling them internally to change it and they haven't) he might force MS to change the situation.

The only time Sony ever made people sign release time-window deals was in exchange for taking the stage at E3 and in general indie's don't have the resources for simultaneous releases in the same way as AAA, so I hope Microsoft does change this. To be fair, they're getting good at listening and changing

 

[Curator_Stravos]

Every time I see ID@xbox it just looks like idiot box to me am I the only one? cause looks like their marketing team is a fail as ever

 

[Andy Shandy]

You know, I do agree with him that it is a bit of a daft clause, and hopefully it will get changed, but I do have to ask, why would he/Vlambeer go to Sony (or any company, in fact) saying that you want to be exclusive? And for such a short period of time as well? It just seems odd to me that from the offset you would go "We want it to only be available on your platform, for a month"

 

[theApoc]

I think what he did here is a smart move. In between choosing to sign some BS EULA or not releasing a game on that platform at all most people are going to release the game, but by bringing some publicity to the situation (and it sounds like he's already been telling them internally to change it and they haven't) he might force MS to change the situation.

The only time Sony ever made people sign release time-window deals was in exchange for taking the stage at E3 and in general indie's don't have the resources for simultaneous releases in the same way as AAA, so I hope Microsoft does change this. To be fair, they're getting good at listening and changing

Exclusivity hurts consumers, plain and simple. And there is a reason that the best selling games are cross platform from day one, accessibility. I personally don't pick a console because of a particular game, and I surely wouldn't pick one JUST because it had an exclusive title.

 

[mirage202]

This sounds exactly like "Oh yes you may have timed exclusives.. with us and us alone".

More of the typical BS I've come to expect from Microsoft.

 

[Vivi22]

Did anyone inform Vlambeer that Microsoft is still early in the process and things will surely change once they iron out the concerns with self-publishing and allow people to use retail consoles as dev boxes like they advertised?

Something like this isn't a bug to be ironed out. It's a deliberate attempt to prevent competition from getting games Microsoft has already agreed to let developers self publish before the Xbox gets them. That's not something that gets "ironed out" unless developers push back against it like this one is doing right now.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Hmm...How different are the Dev Kits between PS4 and Xbone anyway? I understand that would be one of the key factors in the added pressure a Simultaneous launch would cause.

Both should be reasonably accessible, as they have x64 architecture, which is fairly common on PCs.

Seriously though, I am so glad that Sony abandoned their Cell Processor bullshit, perhaps now we will get some decent fucking PC ports!

 

[BrotherRool]

I think what he did here is a smart move. In between choosing to sign some BS EULA or not releasing a game on that platform at all most people are going to release the game, but by bringing some publicity to the situation (and it sounds like he's already been telling them internally to change it and they haven't) he might force MS to change the situation.

The only time Sony ever made people sign release time-window deals was in exchange for taking the stage at E3 and in general indie's don't have the resources for simultaneous releases in the same way as AAA, so I hope Microsoft does change this. To be fair, they're getting good at listening and changing

Exclusivity hurts consumers, plain and simple. And there is a reason that the best selling games are cross platform from day one, accessibility. I personally don't pick a console because of a particular game, and I surely wouldn't pick one JUST because it had an exclusive title.

We're not talking about exclusivity here, we're just talking about launch windows. And an indie dev doesn't work like a publisher, if a publisher releases a game for all platforms at the same time it means they've been using proper resources.

If an indie dev releases a game on all platforms at the same time, like Microsoft is demanding here, it means they finished developing it for other platforms first and then delayed releasing it whilst they finished up other versions, which hurts them and it hurts us

 

[CriticalMiss]

Did anyone inform Vlambeer that Microsoft is still early in the process and things will surely change once they iron out the concerns with self-publishing and allow people to use retail consoles as dev boxes like they advertised?

Didn't Microsoft say they have been working on this for a while? I think they said it was planned since before the Xbone was announced. So it's not really early in the process if they have actually been figuring it out for a couple of months at the least. Although that is assuming that the whole thing wasn't hastily put together because they were being slaughtered in the PR department and Sony were openly embracing Indie devs and getting praised for it.

It seems like a really silly clause that is blatantly there to stop the Xbone falling further behind. Stopping devs from publishing when they are ready to just means that games will take longer to release or they will axe certain platforms to come out in a timely manner. Obviously the larger studios won't have much of a problem making ports for their games but the guys who only have a handful of employees are going to struggle.

 

[WWmelb]

You know, I do agree with him that it is a bit of a daft clause, and hopefully it will get changed, but I do have to ask, why would he/Vlambeer go to Sony (or any company, in fact) saying that you want to be exclusive? And for such a short period of time as well? It just seems odd to me that from the offset you would go "We want it to only be available on your platform, for a month"

Solely because the clause that mandates a simultaneous release for the xbox is null and void when there is an existing contract with another company.

By signing a deal with sony, it gives them more time to develop their xbox product and not rush it out the door, while simultaneously allowing them to release a finish product for the PS4 instead of locking it away while they finish the development of the xbox version.

Very smart move on their part.

 

[RicoADF]

You know, I do agree with him that it is a bit of a daft clause, and hopefully it will get changed, but I do have to ask, why would he/Vlambeer go to Sony (or any company, in fact) saying that you want to be exclusive? And for such a short period of time as well? It just seems odd to me that from the offset you would go "We want it to only be available on your platform, for a month"

He doesn't want to release the game on all platforms at once due to resource constraints, he can only do one at a time. Microsoft was going to require a same day release (I can't fully blame them for thinking it was reasonable since their use to dealing with publishers who can do this), the clause in what Microsoft was asking was that same day release isn't required for teams that signed up to another platform first, so he did that with Sony for shortest time possible to fulfil that clause requirement allowing him time to work on the XBO port properly.

Edit: damn ninjas