UPDATE: Major Nelson has confirmed that independent developers will be able to self-publish games on the Xbox One. He also promised that more details would be revealed at this year’s Gamescom event.
ORIGINAL STORY: It looks like another of Microsoft’s big Xbox One policy mistakes is going bye bye. According to a report on Game Informer, independent developers will have the ability to self-publish their games on Microsoft’s next-gen console.
This brings the Xbox One’s policy towards indie developers more in line with Sony’s PS4, which highlighted self-published games from Supergiant Games (Transistor), Klei Entertainment (Don’t Starve), Switchblade Monkeys (Secret Ponchos), and others at this year’s E3 Expo. Another indie title, Jonathan Blow’s The Witness, was at the center of the Sony’s PS4 press conference in February.
In addition to allowing developers to self-publish their titles, Microsoft is revamping the certification process for game updates. According to GI, the process will be similar to Apple’s iTunes policy and will strive to have a 14-day turnaround for an approvals.
I wonder what outspoken Microsoft critic Phil Fish (the creator of Fez) thinks of that.
