Xbox One: will self-publishing allow indies to flourish?

Microsoft has announced that indie games developers will be able to self-publish – how have they reacted to its latest U-turn?

[Gildarts]

WHat is really going to make indies flourish is the ability to make any Xbox One a Dev unit.

A 500 dollar DEV Unit!!

I can not stress enough how important this is.

Of course it might not be able to do things a full-fledged devkit can do. But this is more then enough for Indie developers.

[lastofgen]

I agree. That part is especially exciting.

[WrAiTh Sp3cTr3]

It's no doubt awesome but these indie devs are a bunch of pre-madonnas(some of them). They're gonna complain about there being too many terrible games being in the ecosystem but yet they won't acknowledge that having a publisher would help them stand out more, with money for promo, ads, etc... I'm sure these certain indie devs want a special slot for themselves to differentiate from people who might just be goofing off with fart apps and such. But if MS decides to cater to that option and these self righteous indie devs still complain, I would say f*** off.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I think you mean "prima donna"

[XboxFun]

that is definitely a game changer and a huge step in game development. No more huge costs for extra dev kits for developers.

Not to mention the it will be true testing for QA guys because it'll be on the console itself and not a dev kit.

[AzureskyZ]

a game changer for indie developers for sure-- not for most other developers-- they need the higher clock, more memory etc--- the one thing i worry xbox being a native development tool-- is malicious hackers using to further piracy or cheat utilities-- sure ms will have some framework to protect itself, but remember that the reason ps3 other os was removed is because hackers was trying to access rsx and higher level application dev to exploit. x86 arc with windows kernel embedded is cause for concerns when you have a always connected kinect--- one safeguard to this always online to verify and look for rogue codes-- but like any other drm its quite unpopular and very anticonsumer. I think MS is risking alot-- but it might be needed to gather lost developers support and bring back fans to the system. There is no right or wrong answers here-- ps4 being an x86 runs the very same risk but some safeguards like freebsd may help with intrusions. This could be a make or break move from ms simply because it could very well usher a new period for indie developers or turned into a waste land but corrupt individuals.

[TheSauce]

I cant wait to see what indies do with this. I'm sure the first games to come through will be simple games but I can only imagine what devs will do later on.

[elhebbo16]

no it will just polute the market with crappy minecraft clones. I think sony and MS should both put up at least some regulations so we dont get a shit ton of bad indie games. a $100 deposit from the indie devs to assure at least some quality could do it, something like steam greenlight.

[HowarthsNJ]

Every time I read about this all I can imagine is the hackers jumping for joy.

Access through an XB1 retail unit, really? Right.

[Jdoki]

Sure...there's only about a billion PC's in the world that could be used for development, and platforms like Steam and Desura, so I can see where Indies have really been held back!

/s