Dev: ID@Xbox Has Been Great, There Are Problems On Sony’s Side Too

Since the very beginning of this console generation, Sony’s PlayStation 4 earned praise from developers of all kinds, including indies. Their self-publishing method enabled many console ports by small studios, whereas Microsoft’s Xbox One trailed behind for a while before debuting a program called ID@Xbox, specifically meant to help bring indie games on the platform.

Things are now much more balanced according to Alex Preston, the creator of the astounding Kickstarter success titled Hyper Light Drifter, a 2D action RPG that combines elements from Zelda and Diablo. In an interview with The Inner Circle, he said:

It’s been great[ID@Xbox]. I’ve talked to a few of people now. Chris Charla was the person that we hooked up with to get involved in the first place. He’s awesome. He’s a great evangelist for indies on the platform. We’ve had a few other interactions and it’s been a very smooth experience overall. No complaints from me on them.

The program has its issues like any program would that’s part of a large corporation. These problems exist on Sony’s side too, which is very indie friendly these days. Everyone solves their issues. Overall, it’s a marked improvement over last generation including the way they interact with people and the response time. It’s all been a very positive experience on our end. There are kinks that need to be worked out and the parity clause can be problematic. Overall, it’s much harder to complain about these programs now than it was 4-5 years ago.

Even so, Preston did note that the parity clause is a hindrance on small developers and offered some insight as to why it’s still in effect while Sony has nothing of the sort.

It’s a hinderance for smaller developers. I get why Microsoft have it in there for larger developers. Developers like us, even with the money we made on Kickstarter, find that a game is really expensive to make. People with even smaller budgets find it harder. You’re forcing them to do a lot of work up front to get on your platform instead of doing it when they can. You’re either telling them you can’t be on our platform, or spend $30,000 extra to get on here at the same time as you would on Sony’s platform.

The larger issue is that the people behind it and running it, like Chris Charla and the others behind it, are great and fighting for the indie community and want to embrace it. They also work within a larger corporation with its own goals and motivations and sometimes communication breaks down and it’s harder to get something done. Their goals might not be a priority for the larger corporation that they’re working under. There’s a lot of back-and-forth in those situations and I think on Sony’s side they’ve had more autonomy so it’s easier for them to lift certain restrictions and be flexible. It’s corporate culture. It’s small entities within larger entities, within all these different things. It’s complicated.

Overall though, it sounds like indie developers are having a great time and that’s great news for all gamers, as most of the innovation in the industry comes from them.