Speaking with the [a] List Daily, the CEO of Wasteland 2 developer inXile Entertainment Brian Fargo spoke about the changes he is already starting to see in how Microsoft treats independent developers in the wake of their policy shift on self-publishing we learned about a few weeks ago. And he says they’re being way nicer now.
“They’ve come full circle in a matter of ninety days, on every part of it, including the ability to be on the platform at all,” Fargo said. “Sony was already there; they go one step further with their Dev Pub fund, where they actually give developers money upon delivery of a game. You’re actually hearing executives at both those companies – and Nintendo, I should say – talk about why indies are important. Someone called it the Cambrian explosion of creativity.”
But wait, there’s more: “You’re hearing Microsoft reaching out, they’re saying ‘Hey, we want you on the machine.’ They’re making the calls.
“You can use the hardware as a development kit, making it more accessible, because indies can’t afford to buy [development kits]. It used to be that if you shipped on Sony first you could never be on the Xbox. Now they’re like ‘Well, we’re flexible, maybe there are features…’ There’s a different dialog there.”
I think what Fargo is describing could help to allay some of the concerns that he and other indie folks shared with Dave last month, but this walk is not a short one.
There’s plenty more to the Fargo interview, so check it out.
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