To make a good game, deep pockets and a massive team aren’t necessarily required. Independent developers are capable of developing amazing games as well, for conventional consoles or mobile devices. Microsoft previously required developers to go through a publisher if they wanted to launch their games on its platform. Microsoft confirmed back in July that it will allow independent developers to self publish games for the Xbox One. The company game some more good news for such developers at the Penny Arcade Expo.
Portfolio director for digital games at Microsoft, Chris Charla, said that independent games won’t be bound to a set pricing structure on the Xbox One. They will support “every business model that any other game on Xbox One has.” This means that independent games may be free to play, or have premium pricing and micro-transactions. Speaking with Joystiq, Charla added that these games will have “full Gamerscore, full Achievements, can take advantage of SmartGlass, Kinect.” Independent developers will be able to use retail Xbox One consoles as development kits for their games. They’ll not be able to self-publish games at launch, which is slated for November. Microsoft has said that they will allow developers to self-publish at a later date.