Xbox One Greenlights Indie Games

Self Publishing for Xbox One

By Anni Simpson on July 25, 2013 at 8:48pm

Microsoft confirmed today that indie developers will be able to self-publish games for the newest Xbox slated for sale in December. To make the publication process easier, developers can use the consumer-grade console instead of purchasing a special – and expensive – development kit.

Marc Witten, Xbox vice president, said:

Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We'll have more details on the program and the timeline at gamescom in August.

The announcement has come as big relief to indie publishers. In the past, Micrsoft required developers to pass an expensive certification process before publishing their games either physically or through Xbox LIVE Arcade.