Xbox One 'Easily The Most Appealing Platform For Devs Like Us' Says Indie Studio

NowGamer: Indie studio No Goblin announces Roundabout will be coming to Xbox One and praises ID@Xbox as 'easily the most appealing console platform for developers like us to release on.'

[Gazondaily]

Glad to see some positive responses from indies. I feel more responses like this are needed from indies to gauge whether MS are now on the ball with the indie development community.

[Ted_Breakfast]

Agreed. After the negative talk about the Xbox One from indies, it would be interesting to see how many indie developers there are who are having a good experience with Microsoft.

[thereapersson]

Yeah, the amount of BS coming from Microsoft's PR department is over the top, so it's great to hear it from an actual developer who enjoys the process and ecosystem. I don't think that enough people give credit to the fact that every One can be used as a devkit. That cuts out a lot of overhead from the get-go.

[FamilyGuy]

Surprising MS is taking risk with games. This one looks cooky and reminds me of Octodad in a way.

[MiloGarret]

@No_Limit
Well if his comment here is anything to go by, it's pretty obvious.

[Volkama]

@NatureOfLogic It took them free dev kits, unity licenses, tech support and whatever else they offer indie developers

@FamilyGuy ID@XBox is self publishing, so MS aren't really taking a specific risk on the content.

[Angeljuice]

"A huge thanks has to go to Chris Charla and Richard Rouse over at the ID@Xbox team for making what’s easily the most appealing console platform for developers like us to release on,"

Yet no word as to why?

It's a bit like saying "The Xbox one is the best place for gamers like me to play" without any clarification as to what constitutes a 'gamer like me' or giving any reason why you consider it the best choice for gamers in a similar situation.

I'm not bashing the Xbox here but if you're going to make a statement, you should at least state something tangible.

[JokesOnYou]

Yeah xbox has always been great for indies, the lack of self publishing rubbed a few the wrong way last gen but remember that was how micro were able to build Live while simultaneously bringing indies to consoles. Folks like Blow speak badly because they have a axe to grind and a few ps dollars in their pocket, meanwhile the host of other indie devs who speak positively must bebe lying right? lol

[Docknoss]

Booyakasha, Xbox one is on the up and up

[SilentNegotiator]

What kind of developers are they, then, compared to the overwhelming majority that has less than kind words for Xbox One and MS's policies?

[johndoe11211]

@SilentNegotiator

I was thinking the same thing. Look, the fact is that not all devs will have the same experience with all console manufacturers. Some will have good experiences, some will have bad. It could be that this dev just happened to have a good experience with microsoft.

Still, to say that xbox is the most appealing platform for indies is not consistent with what we've been hearing from most of the indie devs, not just jonathan blow. Anyone who wants to argue that is just in denial. That still doesn't mean that indie devs won't sign on to id@xbox, it just means that right now sony has the better program for most indie devs.

[MetaReapre]

@truefan1
No mater where you comment, it's always a distasteful one. Do you ever get tired?

Back on topic:
It's good that there is a indie dev that's saying something good about ms. Although I would like to know what they find very appealing about it. Frankly, I would enjoy hearing more good news on the xb1 rather than the bad. I don't have an xb1 yet so I want something more to entice me to buy the system. Although that titanfall xb1 looks sooo cool. Lol

[Giul_Xainx]

Hopefully Microsoft changes a few more things for the independant developers. Sony is seriously creating a close relationship with indie devs this gen. Maybe Microsoft will follow the same road.

This is by no means bad. I just hope indie devs can thrive this gen after a long history of scrutiny from the "hardcore gamer."

[BallsEye]

@Most posters

All of you claiming that overwhelming majority of devs talk negative about xbox one, can you please post links? I fail to remember any except sony exclusive devs and anonymous blog crap. If you disagree, please have the balls to link the articles with devs saying so. I'm just that curious since all of you are so sure about it.

Also let's not forget every XBOX ONE is a dev kit and devs do not need to buy a special dev kit units which cost A LOT. PS4 devkit = $2,500.
For indie devs THIS IS BIG. If they need 10 of them it's already 25k. XO is very dev friendly since anyone who got any idea of coding can make a game in his/her basement, without all the expensive equipment. Again, disagree? Post some fact's :) I'd love a good debate.

[scootscottskeet93]

Truefan... Nobody likes you.
(Sorry for the personal attack N4G)

[Pogmathoin]

Scoot, so, anyone who refuses to hate on MS should be frowned up? Typical fanboy arrogance. I do not like many posters here, but do not go around blabbing it about. Get smart....

[GameNameFame]

Xbox One regular cannot be used as devkit yet.

MS said they will look into an update.

Still hasnt happened. Stop making desperate stuff up fanboys.

[scootscottskeet93]

Pog.. Look at Truefans comment history the guy is clearly a troll. You must think that hurts my feelings to be called a fanboy but really I'm the furthest thing from one. I own an xbox1 as if it's any of ur business but I wouldn't defend the company like it's my life. I also own a ps4 and wouldn't defend sony if they did half the stuff Microsoft does. These little n4g arguments are stupid and is going to get you nowhere in life. So next time u post an ignorant comment on this site make sure u question urself, how it's going to benefit u in life. Once u realize it's not send me a message apologizing and maybe just maybe I'll forgive you.

-Love,
Your Father

[BallsEye]

Disagrees on my comment and no replies with links. This community is laughable. Empty words everywhere.

[MetaReapre]

@Ballseye

There hasn't been much on devs talking bad about MS, but there has been a lot of bad press on xb1 and a lot of speculation that MS isn't treating indie game devs well.

http://ca.ign.com/articles/...

What most people are seeing are the many... and I mean MANY... articles on Jonathan Blow and his comment on the fact that he finds MS to treat Indie devs poorly.

I do believe there were a couple other articles saying other devs feel that MS treats them badly, however I could not find them, just articles on Jonathan Blow.

[christocolus]

The xbox team is heading in the right direction.
We have Phil spencer and Phil harrison working day and night trying to get us aa games and then on the indie side we have Chris Charla who has been very wonderful with the indies... great job guys.

Hope Sadiya Nadella is open to cashing another $1billion very soon cos judging by the rate at which Phil has been signing deals and investing into new and old ips,i bet he will be needing some more cash very soon... :P . Great job Phil i wish Don left the team alot earlier than he did. Wishing him all the best though. :)

[KingDadXVI]

I agree. Don's vision was pretty messed up. Not picking on millennials but his ideas were pretty millennial (AKA Apple like).

I for one am very glad that guy is gone.

With Nokia set to resurge onto the smart phone stage, the surface pro 2 doing well, and the Xbox Brand actually being a device that they make money on we will hopefully see Nadella continue the push into the devices and services sector.

From all I have read that whole division of MS is using the Xbox Brand as its lead product and taking ideas from it.

It will be interesting to see how things shape up in the next few years especially with Bill Gates taking a more active role in the technological direction of the company.

With MS earning a profit from the sale of each Xbox now coupled with profits from Xbox Live and game sales we should see the best profits ever from the Xbox group. This should give Nadella the firm ground he needs to continue to support that division.

[christocolus]

@kingdad

You are right. Nadella is going to support the xbx one division a lot more than past execs. I read about the guy. He is a risk taker, a team player and quite down to earth.His colleagues at microsoft who have had the chance of working personally with him all have good things to say about the guy. I also think putting elopp in charge of the xbx division will pay off in the end. The guy is focused and is willing to do all it takes to succeed. Thats what the xbx division needs right now.

Phil and Elopp will definitly make a good fit afterall Phil says his recent conversations with elopp have been really positive and very encouraging, and with Bill now playing an advisory role i believe things will go well..really really well.

[cozomel]

@christocolus

You forgot to add "and I love you at the end"

That was a nice love letter

And @ Kingdad

Oh now the fanboys are going to admit that Mattrick sucked. Nice! fanboys are so honest. And how much is that profit?

[BlackTar187]

I too can't wait till Exclusives are the bread and butter of the xbox.

[Christopher]

@Septic: with id@xbox, I just can't trust what people say.

As I said in my blog about it a while back, you're selling away your rights to publish where you want first. And, to follow on that, Indies aren't going to trash talk any platform upon which they are releasing, especially if they are being forced.

Looking at Roundabout, though, their whole concept is based around Kinect and taking your likeness and putting it in the game. So, skeptic in me is going off, but I can see how they can talk this up since their game is built around Kinect as opposed to a game that will use it because they can but otherwise have a different game.

[Prime157]

I didn't see anything about the Kinect in the trailer, but I did find out weird that it was slated to release first on pc/mac awhile ago, now it's first on Xbox.

That was my interpretation of this, "Alongside the Windows, Mac and Linux versions that you can pre-order right now, we’re also going to be releasing Roundabout on Xbox One. " (cite: http://nogoblin.com/post/76...
Well, hope they have the funds for it.

[Christopher]

@Prime157: I got the Kinect info from their Web site. I wanted to research the game before making any blanket statements about them.

[Gazondaily]

Fair enough. I didn't really research them as much so it might all be a corporate act. Who knows.

[Chanogram]

Hilarious that you get disagrees for this statement.
Only on n4g!!

To your point, it is good to see. Time will tell if this is a trend or just one developer's experience.

[andrewsqual]

Could we get some reasons other than it is "easy"? Or do they just mean it is easier than the 4000 checklist that was, getting a downloadable game on 360?
Could they give us reasons why it is THE platform "for developers like us" over the other platforms please?
Because this article has pretty much no information.
I was actually keen to see some actual positive feedback but couldn't find anything to back it up.

[AndrewLB]

when doing interviews tech journalists, developers, or anyone tech savvy know it's best to keep your discussion on the macro level and not delve into the intricacies that 99.9% of the population would have no idea what they're talking about and would stop reading the article.

Some things I'll bet he's referring to is how Microsoft gives two Dev kits to each established game developer, free of charge. Also, microsoft doesn't charge for additional development tools.

While I have never worked with Microsoft's developer assistance people, I know from personal experience that Sony is not a very easy company to deal with if you are not an established developer. I've had nothing but problems with Sony, being a PlayStation mobile developer, so much so that I'm about to throw in the towel with them.

And like the dev in the article, I'm not going to get into the specific problems I've had with PSM.

[TGF_Zero]

Glad Microsoft is being friendly to devs

[ITPython]

I'm confused, if you goto their main website page it talks about Roundabout, but checking out their games section (via google search) shows this:

http://nogoblin.com/games

"Stay tuned for the announcement of our first game!

We're hard at work on our first title! It's really fun! We'll talk about it soon, promise!

Oh, you want actual information about our first game, and not just a boring coming soon page? Well, here's an exclusive for taking the time to hit up our "Games" page: there are no goblins or guns in it. It'll be releasing on PC and PlayStation 4 in the first half of 2014. "

??? So their first game is going to be on PS4 and PC first half of 2014... yet this Roundabout thing is also coming out?

Unless they just haven't updated that page, it almost seems like Roundabout was originally going to be on the PS4 and PC, but 'certain events' turned the tide and now the game is going to be on XB1 and PC with the devs praising MS.

Coincidence? I wonder if the huge bag of money MS gave them had a dollar sign on it?

[Gamer1982]

This is a new dev with no experience on either console. It clearly states in the article this is his first game. So he has no experience with working on any platform. So as good as he thinks ID@Xbox is he can't really speak for the long standing community whos been around for a long time and had to face the hardships of releasing indie games.

[Bundi]

Looks like indie friendly gen for everybody then. Wish this could be taken at face value and left as is but knowing this site, that is but a pipe dream.

[Hicken]

If Microsoft's words could be taken at face value, then it wouldn't be a problem. But they proved rather thoroughly last year that that's something we shouldn't do. So expect things from them to be scrutinized.

There's been something of a heavy outpouring from many indie devs regarding their treatment at Microsoft's hands. It would, indeed, be good news if things have changed, but I agree with Angeljuice in wanting to know HOW things have changed. What has made "devs like us" more comfortable on XB1 than PS4 or Wii U or even PC?

[Bundi]

I'm sorry, did I miss the part where these were the words of Microsoft and not this indie studio?

[jessupj]

I have to seriously question the intelligence of anyone that takes anything MS says at face value.

[Hicken]

Whether it's specifically Microsoft or not is irrelevant. Machinima isn't Microsoft, but it seems they were paid for their positive opinions on Xbox products.

These guys have been employed by Microsoft, as for members of Twisted Pixel, who has ONLY worked on Xbox platforms so far.

And there's STILL the lack of any details to consider which, tied with the lack of similar reports from other developers, makes this a questionable report.

Let's not pretend to be stupid, here.

[Gamer1982]

It cant be taken at face value because of who it is hes a nobody. No games to his name and a new indie company (meaning not even a real gaming company). Never mind the site.. If this was a long standing indie dev then people would stand up and take notice but somebody who nobodys heard of with ZERO games to their name? Nobody cares.. I could easily buy an xbox register as a dev and come on N4G saying its the best thing since sliced bread too. Because im not a major indie dev though people would just ignore me.. Other than the Xbox fans who want it to be true.

[4ShotKing]

All I want from ID@XBOX is Castle Crashers 2, GIVE IT TO ME!

[Volkama]

Let Behemoth spread their wings to whatever they want, Battleblock theater was quite awesome too :)

[RAGE91]

It seems that both SONY and Microsoft have better indie relations this gen and that each have specific qualities for certain Indie Studios

[iceman1346]

what ?! is this some kind of joke ?!

[mkis007]

The quote does kind of read that way. Like it was targeted. Calculated. First time I have seen a dev say this so specifically.

[Qwagy UK]

Microsoft has deep pockets!

[Master-H]

dat money hat!

[NeoTribe]

Wonder how much ms paid for a good review from a indie dev?

[MartinB105]

This 100%. Microsoft has a history going back decades of dirty tricks and this is suspect from a mile away given how strong the upcoming indie lineup on PS4 is compared with X1.

I guess no-one else remembers how Microsoft bribed standards organizations to adopt MS Office file formats as standard? Or how they broke Java to further their own products? Or how they forged letters to Netware users telling them that the competing software was becoming obsolete?

It's par-for-course for MS, and this stinks just the same. There's no way any decently informed person could trust Microsoft.

[Activemessiah]

Last i heard It was MS who told indies to screw themselves and as a result most of them jumping on the PS4 and Wii U.
These guys are delusional.

[Death]

I'm guessing you heard that on N4G.

[Activemessiah]

No... it was MS... before the 180:
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[Death]

Microsoft supported and promoted indie games with XNA since 2004. http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

I would hardly call a decade of support as a way to tell indies to "screw themselves". You are running with pre-release information prior to the announcement of Microsoft's plan for indie development.

[The_devils_chum]

All jokes aside and in all seriousness i would rather have a wii U rather than an XB1.

[ambientFLIER]

Don't care. Go away, troll.

[Reeze]

Hmm... Stating an opinion is now considered trolling.

"I prefer chocolate ice cream"
TROLL!!!!!

[BX81]

@reeze. He's a troll because that's what he does. Just check his comment history.

[nope111]

I would too! *HIGH FIVES*

[WeAreLegion]

I wouldn't listen to a Sony only dev about platforms, so I'm not listening to an MS only dev about platforms. Waste of time.

[MRMagoo123]

I feel like after reading this is should have had " A paid advertisement brought to you by Microsoft"

Kinda odd how an indie devs opinion matters to xbone fans now tho huh ? I mean after the PS4 had pretty much every dev saying it was the best platform to work on, it was swept under the rug by xbone fans saying indie devs dont matter or exclusive devs dont matter.

My biggest gripe of the article is the fact it has no reasons what so ever as to why its best for those particular devs, I mean it might just be best for them because MS paid them lots of money , it might be best for them because no one else wants there game, it might be best for them because they only want to make a game using kinect. we can only guess, but it seems more like it was money.

[Ghanja]

That's good, but this proves that 1 out of every 9 developers enjoy working on Xbox!! Lol

[GentlemenRUs]

Oh the DEV was part of TWISTED PIXEL which If I recall was already exclusive to X360.

Shill talk? I dunno, You decide!

EDIT: Go ahead, The TRUTH HURTS baby!

[Clarence]

Paid for advertisement.

[CharlesSwann]

Paid. Microsoft disgusts me.

[ambientFLIER]

And yet...here you are in an article about Microsoft.

[CharlesSwann]

It gives me pleasure to see this disgusting giant fail.

[MRMagoo123]

Some people like to watch train wrecks

[CrossingEden]

"i have no proof that this was paid but i'll say it anyway as if it's a fact, I have nothing better to do"
-CharlesSwann
Seriously, this comment board is disgusting, there is a such thing as a studio that likes microsoft.

[gazgriff2k12]

blah blah blah bs bs bs ms give me my money

[BcozoftheImplication]

It's easily the most appealing platform for devs like us, so its good for shit devs then! lol

[Mexxan]

Agree-a dev team that's indie and hardly upper echelon talking they've produced a AAA title. Definitely on the Payroll...

[TristanPR77]

Wow probably the only indi so far saying this about Microsoft. I wonder if it's part of the ID xbox program agreements or if they are paying the developer to say that.

[KingKevo]

No offense, but they are almost alone with that opinion. Sure, they can only speak for the experiences they've had, but other studios, and quite a few of them, said more negative things about MS. I guess I'll just keep on believing what the others had to say, simply because the aren't just one studio, but many.

Edit: Also yes, who knows if they weren't paid to say that. I mean MS pays them and they want to make money with their game on an Xbox platform. The people wo said negative stuff were/are in no way associated with MS, Sony or anyone else so their opinion weighs more that an opinion of a dev who says this while at the same time earning checks from MS.

[NeloAnjelo]

Hahaha! Yeah okay. When this article is clicked MS gives $3.00 to this dev... Ring a bell Machinima?

MS... Paying for likes and good spin

[Chanogram]

So after reading through the comments, i feel relieved, knowing that N4G hasn't changed. Positive xbox article: MS PAID OMFG! Negetive article: Everyone bash and bubble up!

All this article is about is a Developer that says ID@xbox is right for them. Who the fuck are all of you idiots to say that he is being money hatted or is a "shitty" dev?

Sometimes i wonder why more developers don't leave the industry. So many gamers are complete assholes. Instead of supporting the people that make our hobby what it is, we bash and accuse and *sometiems* threaten them. Devs are people, with opinions. If their opinion is different from yours, who cares? Enjoy their game, or dont, but dont instantly accuse people things you have no proof of.

I wonder if Developers even enjoy their jobs anymore. All anyone does is bitch about things.

[Bdub2000]

I know I wouldn't want to develop games knowing that hoards of people will just be looking for a reason to hate it... The gaming community and their voice has in many ways improved the gaming market and games, but in more ways they cripple it. With so much criticism, why would anyone ever try to develop something truly innovative and risk their neck knowing that they'll get negative reviews several months BEFORE anyone ever played it!

And with that mindset, it will be hard for games to evolve.

[Bdub2000]

Good for the X1, glad to see indies getting support.

[H3ADWOUND81]

Yeah, everybody's intitled to their opinion. In my opinion, Microsoft are the masters at spinning a web of deceipt. This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to claw back some ground lost by their utter stupidity.. Nobody's interested, If you call this nonsense news, just shoot me in the head now..

[Chanogram]

So because a dev says something positive about MS and id@xbox we should immediately think it's a ploy by MS? Why wouldnt we give the dev the benefit of the doubt, like we do with any dev that says something positive about Sony?

Ridiculous. Every dev that says great things about Sony and/or negative about MS are speaking the truth, but any dev that has something negative to say about Sony and/or positive about MS must be getting paid or its all a ploy by Sony?

[H3ADWOUND81]

Yeah, you'll notice Sony wasn't even mentioned in my comment. Nobody's oblivious to the fact it's all a game, In fact it wouldn't surprise me to find out n4g has made it all up just to get irate fanboys such as yourself posting stupid comments.. Who cares honestly? It's all BS anyway...

[muddygamesite]

While it may be difficult to determine the sincerity of the comment, I can confidently say that over the past month plus, the guys at the id@xbox program have made tremendous improvements towards their relationship with developers.

To be frank, i was impressed with how helpful and supportive the team were.

I guess all what Indie developers are looking at is if Microsoft can maintain a good relationship like Sony does with 1st and 3rd party teams.

They have definitely made huge improvements which I can see positively impacting xbox gaming in the long run.

Its just up to them to maintain what they are bringing to the table.

This generation looks like it could match and surpass the Ps2, xbox and GC era in terms of the quality of software in the pipeline. All the present gen consoles are seriously awesome and are a huge improvement over their predecessors.

Time will tell :-)

[arbitor365]

then doesnt this mean that the sub par multiplats on xbox one are purely due to its lack of power, not the fault of apathetic devs?

[Game0N]

The check must have cleared.

[Mister_G]

Appealing? Probably cos of Microsofts large wallet ;)

[RosweeSon]

Who cares I ain't gonna be buying a next gen console for a rotating limo, thanks but no thanks.

[PureTruth]

Great so indie developers who can't push the limits of the console due to budgets really like the weaker machine that's mildly easier to program for. Nice how much did MS pay for this one?

[PureTruth]

Oh I almost forgot and they make it very easy to sell through the Xbox Live store, and they support indie developers with a bit more help than Sony. I don't think that No Goblin has any choice but to say it's an appealing platform for developers "LIKE THEM". Now for serious studios I'd venture to say PS4 get's an all around thumbs up.

[cell989]

not sure if they are sucking up or true statement, since its the very first time I hear this from a dev

[Akuma07]

Said no one ever.

MS probably paid them to say this, like everyone else who says positive things about them.

[InTheZoneAC]

I wonder why I can't help but think anything positive said about M$ is paid off to those who said it...

[Incipio]

Who is "No Goblin"? lol

[LexHazard79]

Im glad to see some postive news in regards to xboxid and indie devs. To many jerkoffs on this site!

[Mr Marvel]

I wonder how much MS had to pay this time for someone to say something positive?

[Petebloodyonion]

I'm Sorry but let me all ask you a simple question:
If I'm lending you MY tools and MY staff for free so you can create a product, shouldn't it be normal that your product be sold in my store first or at least the same day as my competitor?

as for the current guy in the article
He's just stating that he had great help from MS with is project simple as that!

[PSnation4]

"XB1M13"

[batbatz]

keep telling yourself that darling..

[BABY-JEDI]

That's good news. It's about time a dev had something nice to say about MS
: D

[feraldrgn]

Then the question has to be asked,
have they even tried the Playstation?

[Azic]

Yes yes, Paid for hype. Move on people, just M$ throwing around the fun coupons again!

Roll on Carmageddon.

[Kingoftherodeo]

am i the only person who gives zero fucks about indy games i paid good money for AAA game console i want AAA games

[spoonard]

'Easily The Most Appealing Platform For Devs Like Us'

As long as Xbox One is the only platform you are developing for.

[SynestheticRoar]

Check please thank you. XBONE XBONE XBONE.