This didn’t take long…but then again, one could say the same for Microsoft’s horribly unpopular DRM practices for the Xbox One. This time, it’s the company’s decision to abolish self-publishing for indie titles on the Xbox One that is reportedly up for review. According to sources that spoke with Game Informer, Microsoft is reportedly going to allow indie studios to publish their games without a third party publisher or the aid of Microsoft after all.
And that’s not all: Microsoft will also be revamping its certification process, which has long been the bane of several developers like Polytron (Fez) and Wargaming (World of Tanks). It will reportedly emulate iTunes and have a 14-day turnaround for approvals. Microsoft’s role will be reduced to checking for violations in the terms of service and any potential bugs the games might have.
Finally, though unconfirmed, it seems that you’ll be able to convert your Xbox One into a debug console using a console ID authorization that Microsoft provides. It seems that around 25,000 users will be provisioned for the same at launch – will this extend to retail Xbox One consoles? We’ll soon find out.