Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program, which is responsible for bringing indie titles to the Xbox One, may have a wide range of titles scheduled for the next few months but some developers are still avoiding it due to the parity clause. Speaking to Digital Spy, Curve Digital’s managing director Jason Perkins says it’s the reason that titles like MouseCraft, The Swapper and Titan Attacks won’t be on the Xbox One.

“Unfortunately, all these titles here get ruled out by the parity clause.”

Design director Jonathan Biddle also stated that, “We feel like it’s unnecessary handcuffs really, but that’s the way they’ve decided to run that. We’re platform agnostic. We’ll support everyone. What works for us is having many as healthy competitors as possible. They’ll all try and promote the games they’ve got, and that’s what we want. We want a healthy ecosystem, so we want everyone to do well.”

The aforementioned parity clause states that developers must release their games on the Xbox One at the same time as other formats. It’s become a big issue for some developers who have specific time frames for other formats or might want to bring the indie title to the Xbox One later. And it won’t be disappearing any time soon. Stay tuned for more information.

While many consider this to be the golden age of indie gaming, even industry veteran Peter Molyneux has stated to CVG that we shouldn’t expect such a time to last. “These things go in cycles. What I’d say is, enjoy this time, because it won’t last.

“Don’t think we’re going to be all indies for the next five years – these things go in cycles, just like in the music business. You have a time where punk is big, and then you have times like now where everything is manufactured. Enjoy this time, because inevitably it will only last a short period.”

Molyenux also states there will come a day when some indie studios decide to accept large amounts of funding from publishers in exchange for creative freedom. “Here’s the thing, walk through any hotel lobby at GDC and look at people’s name badges. This morning at breakfast I saw three angel investors talking to indies. They’re saying, ‘take my money! I want to invest in your company!

“But what those indie companies don’t realise is that they’ll then have to have board meetings, and in those meetings they’ll be told, ‘no, you shouldn’t do that – look at this game that’s making money’.”

Of course when funding mediums such as Kickstarter – or even regular crowd-funding which helped studios like Chris Roberts’ Cloud Imperium Games to raise more than $40 million for Star Citizen – add a twist to the proceedings. Regardless, indie games are on the upswing, admits Molyneux, and this is perhaps the best time to be an indie dev.

It’s not an easy task finding games to publish on PSN and XBL, however, Sony has revealed how they approach Indie devs and what type of games they desire to full back it. They have mentioned that they like “art-house” type of games.

“We’re always looking for things that people wouldn’t be able to do normally. Like, really art-house stuff. We really want to feature them, and have an artful platform for people to put content out on,” Adam Boyes, vice president of publisher and developer relations for SCEA, told Gamasutra in an interview.

“I’m fine with paying $10, $15, $20 for something and realising the creator has put their heart and soul into something. If it’s awesome, that’s sort of the first qualifier. If it’s something that really sets itself apart from what else is out there, ‘that’ always stacks higher.”

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