Microsoft’s Control Over Indie Game Prices is Same as Sony’s

Microsoft really has changed its stance on indie games and indie game publishing for the upcoming Xbox One- after a generation of antagonizing indie developers with their restrictive policies on the Xbox 360, and then similarly restricting indie game development on the Xbox One, Microsoft went ahead and announced full self publishing for indie game developers on the Xbox One, as well as free developer kits- great measures, that should bring some support back to the platform.

Now, CVG reports, their policies on indie game pricing will also be similar to Sony’s. Essentially, while indie game developers are allowed to set wholesale prices on their products on both these platforms, Sony or Microsoft decide the final prices the games sell at- very different from the App Store, Steam, Google Play, or even Nintendo’s eShop.

“Microsoft’s store uses a retail model, so we set the final price of the game while developers set the wholesale price,” Microsoft executive Chris Charla said.

“When a self-published game is sold, developers get either their wholesale price back, or a standard industry percentage of the retail price, whichever is higher.”

It sounds like a developer friendly practice, although indie games might be understandably annoyed at not getting full control over their product.