The next generation of console gaming is already upon us, and while things are looking to heat up in the next few months following to their release, not everybody is happy with certain aspects of the consoles. And such issue is Microsoft’s and Sony’s policy toward indie games.
Recently, Skander Djerbi from i-Friqiya studios, in an interview with Gamingbolt, discussed about the kind of support that indie game developers receive from publishers. On asked as to what he thinks about Xbox One’s closed system game selection process compared to the openness that Sony is offering for the PS4, Djerbi elaborated:
“I think that as long as you comply with their technical constraints they should allow you to sell your game on their platform. That’s more or less the case on PlayStation, that’s how the App store works, that’s how the Android market works. But once again that’s their policy, and there’s nothing you can do about that. Maybe they want to avoid alienating the big retail publishers? I respect that but if so they should say it and stop presenting themselves as indie-friendly.”
He went on to add that on the other hand, “the main question is not whether the platform accepts (such as the PSN) or not (Xbox live arcade) to host indie projects. The main question is “what kind of visibility are indie games given on the digital channels?” And to be honest with you I’m extremely pessimistic when I look at what happened these past years.”
Djerbi also went on to talk about how indie games now not only need to compete with the 10th map of Call of Duty DLC, but also with the likes of Justin Bieber and Rihanna.
“When we started the Fuel Overdose project, our objective was to compete with what you could find on the digital channels at that time: indie projects more or less supported by the console manufacturers, HD remakes of the 80’s and 90’s and small games. Then we saw the digital editions of the AAA games coming. Then the big publishers started to release their digital editions the same day as the retails ones,” he added.
“They also stared to fill the digital shelves with the remakes of their games that were originally released less than 4-5 years before, and also their remakes of their remakes, their online passes, DLCs… On the other hand the console manufacturers stared to diversify their offer. So now, not only do I have to compete against the 10th multiplayer map of the latest COD, but also against Justin Bieber and Rihanna.”
Both Xbox One and PS4 are set to arrive later this year.
