Microsoft Didn't Mean to Hate on Indie Developers

[Tom Goldman]

Microsoft Didn't Mean to Hate on Indie Developers

After violent complaints about Xbox Live's dashboard update, Microsoft has reassured Xbox Live Indie Games developers that it only wants what's best for them.

Independent developers were summarily Xbox Live dashboard update of 2010 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104933-Xbox-Dashboard-Changes-Angers-Indie-Devs]. Despite complaints, Microsoft says that the changes were meant to help, not harm.

The Indie Games section was once given its own bar in the Games Marketplace tab, but is now found in a new section called Specialty Shops that includes the Avatar Marketplace, Game Room [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97325-Arcades-Go-Virtual-With-Microsofts-Game-Room], and the Rock Band and Guitar Hero music stores. Xbox Live Indie Games also don't appear in the Games Marketplace's A-Z listings, which is one of the primary complaints.

Microsoft told Digital Spy that the move was intended to give Xbox Live Indie Games a bigger role in the overall Xbox Live experience. "Microsoft continues to support the efforts of independent game developers," a statement reads. "The intent of the Specialty Shops section was to provide access to marketplaces that focus on a specific type of content, with unique ways of sorting through that content."

"We wanted to give Xbox Live Indie Games that full marketplace experience and felt this was the best place to do it, alongside other popular channels like the Avatar Marketplace," the statement continues. "In fact, since the launch of Avatars, Xbox Live members have made more than 290 million customizations to their Avatar's clothing, so we expect many people to regularly visit the Specialty Shops section."

The statement also points out that Microsoft added new browsing features for Xbox Live Indie Games, including the ability to search through the top-rated games by genre. Additionally, the Top Rated and Top Downloaded lists, which are said to be pretty important [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104050-Xbox-Live-Bugs-Harming-Independent-Developers] to developers, have expanded from 20 to 50 titles shown.

Whether the move pays off for Indie Games developers, or serves to kill them off instead, remains to be seen. The millions of new users Kinect [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103519-Microsoft-Predicts-3-Million-Kinect-Sales-Over-the-Holidays] could make a huge difference, if Microsoft is correct about the Specialty Shop's prominence.

The situation is hard to judge from the outside, because while some Xbox Live Indie Games are not [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103836-1-Xbox-Live-Indie-RPG-Successfully-Sells-30K]. However, not being featured in the A-Z listings, or even Genres, is understandably a bit hard to swallow for those developers trying to make a living out of this. The Indie Games storefront should probably have its own unique section, but it does initially seem like its status has been diminished by hiding it behind another menu choice.

Source: Digital Spy [http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a285642/microsoft-comments-on-xbox-indie-changes.html]

Permalink

 

[Sebenko]

Oh hey, Indie devs.

Microsoft being lying cunts again?

Join the club, all the PC gamers are in it.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Microsoft's treatment of indie devs is one of the reasons why games like Joe Danger are PSN exclusive. No one wants to put up with it.

 

[Mr. Grey]

What's that smell?

Oh, it's just anther load of bullshit.

If you really wanted to help them out, you'd dedicate an entire section to Indie Games. The people that walk into the avatar shops and such, yeah... you think they might just want the Avatar Items? Maybe? Just possibly? I think so.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Oh hey, Indie devs.

Microsoft being lying cunts again?

Join the club, all the PC gamers are in it.

Nothing I can say would beat this. Well done sir.

If you were really focussing on boosting the Indie gamess profile, perhaps you could have left a link on where they used to be - as a sort of forwarding address.

 

[C95J]

wow microsoft really? It's obvious you removed them to leave room for other stuff.

And considering how popular indie games are, that wasn't really a smart move was it?

 

[Delusibeta]

Oh hey, Indie devs.

Microsoft being lying cunts again?

Join the club, all the PC gamers are in it.

What's that smell?

Oh, it's just anther load of bullshit.

If you really wanted to help them out, you'd dedicate an entire section to Indie Games. The people that walk into the avatar shops and such, yeah... you think they might just want the Avatar Items? Maybe? Just possibly? I think so.

There's really nothing more that needs to be added.

 

[Kouen]

"hrm wonder whats new on the indie game scene, lets have a look on my 360... erm... where are they? hrm lets check the A-Z... nothing? Hrm looks like there not on 360 no more. Oh well"

That will be they typical 360 user thats a bit into indie games xD

 

[cobrausn]

Dear Lord....

After entering the Games Marketplace....

IT"S ONE FUCKING STICK MOVEMENT DOWN!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for caps, but this is ridiculous.

A lot of people are acting foolish about this.

Yeah, it involves MS, which everybody loves to hate on.

 

[Kouen]

Dear Lord....

After entering the Games Marketplace....

IT"S ONE FUCKING STICK MOVEMENT DOWN!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for caps, but this is ridiculous.

A lot of people are acting foolish about this.

EDIT: Seriously guys, what's your problem? Never mind, it's just mindless hate.
To mix indie games with the arcade games would be ridiculous, you are your own genre, you cost a dollar. It's like saying why doesn't a five star restaurant sell Taco Bell quality tacos!

Those 5 stars are in the eye of the beholder my friend... lets say VVVVVV or Silent Hill Homecoming

My comment isn't mindless hate personally but I can see why there pissed and from what I can see the indie games are too far buried now, wouldn't mind so much about being a sub category but more not being included in the A-Z

 

[StriderShinryu]

Best and easiest fix? Stick a link in the Games marketplace that takes you to the Indie Games specialty shop. Now everyone's happy.

 

[Swifteye]

Dear Lord....

After entering the Games Marketplace....

IT"S ONE FUCKING STICK MOVEMENT DOWN!!!!!!!!!

Those 5 stars are in the eye of the beholder my friend... lets say VVVVVV or Silent Hill Homecoming

My comment isn't mindless hate personally but I can see why there pissed and from what I can see the indie games are too far buried now, wouldn't mind so much about being a sub category but more not being included in the A-Z

Far too buried?!?

one
stick
movement
down

They have an a-z listing all to themselves, they ARE a sub category.
Those two games you mentioned have absolutely nothing to do with XBL.

Do you even have XBL to know what this about??

From what you say it's a big overreaction. I don't know I kinda believe them and besides the catorgory thing always felt a little confusing I think it's better to do research for something you might like and then do a search bar search rather than comb any bit of the marketplace for what you want.

 

[Kouen]

Dear Lord....

After entering the Games Marketplace....

IT"S ONE FUCKING STICK MOVEMENT DOWN!!!!!!!!!

Those 5 stars are in the eye of the beholder my friend... lets say VVVVVV or Silent Hill Homecoming

My comment isn't mindless hate personally but I can see why there pissed and from what I can see the indie games are too far buried now, wouldn't mind so much about being a sub category but more not being included in the A-Z

Far too buried?!?

one
stick
movement
down

They have an a-z listing all to themselves, they ARE a sub category.
Those two games you mentioned have absolutely nothing to do with XBL.

Do you even have XBL to know what this about??

Breath! Relax, cleared out your frustration?

and ill have you know if I could have XBL I would, I Got Screwed on a 2nd hand 360 that was Pre-banned for being modified.

Remember no need to get worked up over a possible mistake by someone on a forum ^_^

 

[Stabby Joe]

After violent complaints about Xbox Live's dashboard update, Microsoft has reassured Xbox Live Indie Games developers that it only wants what's best for them.

...if they benefit Microsoft in a huge way.

 

[Therumancer]

Hmmm, well to be honest I've spent a few bucks in the Indie martketplace and while I liked the idea of it, I think that it's turned out to be far less in practice than it was in theory. Basically what it did was turn into a giant shovelware ghetto where instead of a place where up and coming indie developers could distribute there work, it turned into a situation where developers seem to hope that by dropping a few key words, or creating something silly they can make a few quick bucks for minimal work.

While on some levels I like the idea of an area where games are unregulated, mostly for potential content reasons, I feel it's been destroyed by the complete lack of quality control.

I personally do not blame Microsoft for pushing the indie games out of the way, or feeling like it was a giant mistake at this point. I think everyone would benefit from them relaunching the entire concept from scratch.

Such are my opinions.

 

[SaintWaldo]

I see that Susan is doing your XBL screencaps this time around.

And, you know, this just reminds of the time I got dressed down by a Microsoft executive about outside user testing before a major release being the most important part of a project. I guess they laid that guy off.

Whether the devs have a point or not, this all could have been avoided by, you know, communicating with them, like MS is supposedly famous for. I thought that better vendor relations and MS connections were the reason for indie devs to be on XBL in the first place?

 

[luckycharms8282]

Microsoft is filled with a bunch of friggin liars. They dont support indie gamer creators, they just want to make more money