After Build Conference, Microsoft Says Xbox One Is(n’t) Better For Indies

No More Patch Fees?

Phil Fish, creator of puzzle-platformer Fez (no relation) explained that he couldn’t fix the Xbox Live Arcade version of his game because Microsoft was charging tens of thousands of dollars for him to release an update. So, the game exists, to this day, unfixed. It’s a terrible tragedy to inflict that kind of a penalty on a developer that doesn’t have the money to begin with. Rumors are swirling, however, that Microsoft is doing away with these fees for the Xbox One. So what did they cover? On one end, certification to make sure the game doesn’t bork the system. On another, it’s to perhaps to prevent developers from shipping unfinished product and then patching in all the fixes later. The Xbox 360 wasn’t alone in this regard as the PlayStation 3 also dealt heavy fees.

We still don’t know for sure either way, but even if it’s true in Microsoft’s case, it’s only going to apply to a small pen of developers.