Microsoft’s latest ID@Xbox program is meant to inspire indie title developers into creating more new stuff for the future. And not only does the console support indie games, but Microsoft had also lined up 32 new studios that are already up and running for the same cause. Now there’s more good news to follow up on since it has been revealed that Xbox One owners can expect the first batch of indie titles in the ID@Xbox scheme to arrive around the end of Q1 2014.
Speaking to EDGE in a recent interview, ID@Xbox program director Chirs Charla spoke about the new program and how it aims to make life better for all those indie developers who are looking ahead to produce a host of titles for the Xbox One.
On asked about the potential arrival date for the first batch of indie titles for the Xbox One via the ID@Xbox program, Charla stated: “I think it will be early in the New Year, in the first three months,” said Charla.
“I would say closer to the third month. In terms of how many games there will be, it’s hard to say, because they’re still in development.”
However, Charla also confirmed that many of the games currently being worked on for the ID@Xbox program have already been in development for “months” now.
“Some developers started developing for Xbox One, others already had games in development and are working on Xbox One versions. I would say they’re at all stages of development, honestly,” he added.
Additionally, ID@Xbox’s controversial parity clause was also brought into light via the interview. And although Charla was not really comfortable speaking about it in the first place, he did provide some hints that the policy might work out in more of a case-by-case basis.
For those of you who aren’t really sure as to what this ID@Xbox parity clause is, it states that developers can’t release indie titles for the Xbox One if they had already appeared on other platforms. And that if an indie title was slated for releases on other platforms, those same versions had to release on the same day as the Xbox One version. Needless to say, that brought about a lot of flak from critics and indie devs.
Charla, however, stated: “Unfortunately we really don’t comment on our publishing policies. Obviously we’ve heard the feedback from developers and we’re looking at all the way the ways we can to lower barriers for developers, but I really can’t comment on publishing policies. The reality is that developers should get in touch with us and talk."