Microsoft’s ID@Xbox indie development program may be a significant improvement over its initial policy for independent games on the Xbox One but there’s still work to be done. Case in, the infamous parity clause which states that if indie developers are creating for multiple platforms, then these must release on the same day as the Xbox One version. For several developers who expressed interest in the program after initially committing to a release date for the PS4 and/or Vita, this was more than just an inconvenience and Heart Machine’s Alex Preston, who’s working on crowd-funded Hyper Light Drifter, believes it won’t last.
Speaking to GamingBolt, Preston was asked whether the parity clause was on his mind when the decision to develop Hyper Light Drifter for the Xbox One was made. “So the Parity Clause is, well, I understand why Microsoft has been doing it, but it’s something that I don’t think they’ll be enforcing long term.
“I mean, they’ve even come out and said that they have made exceptions to the rule, because indie developers just don’t have the resources to do that all the time, to make sure that they’re really on the same platforms, concurrently, it’s kind of too much to ask that if they really want to get these games on their systems, and I think they understand that, and I think it’s kind of a relic system to a degree. They’re still enforcing it, but I feel like they won’t be long term, down the line, it’s not the greatest thing, and most people recognize that.”
Is the policy on borrowed time? Preston responded that, “I just think long term, it’s not the greatest policy, and I think they recognize that to a degree, and I don’t know if it will be around for the entirety of the console generation.”
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