Microsoft kickstarted the indie game movement on consoles with their Xbox Live Arcade back on the Xbox 360, but in recent years, they have increasingly lost ground to both Sony and Nintendo, as their more restrictive policies have driven independent game developers away. However, they have been trying their best to regain indie developer support in the last few months, exemplified best by their ID@Xbox program.
Speaking to OXM, ID@Xbox program director Chris Charla said that ‘transparency and openness’ are vital to winning the trust of indie game developers, and that ‘Twitter is the greatest thing ever for indie game developers.’
“I’m really happy to be under the hard light of Twitter, even though it can be painful sometimes,” Charla reflected.
ID@Xbox seems to have been a success for Microsoft so far, with the first release under the program already having been made, and dozens more in the works, including many that Microsoft highlighted at E3 this year.