In a new blog post today, Microsoft is celebrating three years of its ID@Xbox program, which allows indie developers to develop and publish games on Xbox One and Windows 10. Alongside this, the company has also announced that Game Preview and other "amazing" ID@Xbox titles are heading to Windows 10 this year.
Microsoft recounted how the ID@Xbox program began with the aim to allow players access to innovative and diverse games published by independent developers. For game creators, this offered a sustainable marketplace to showcase their titles. According to the company, it received feedback from "tons of developers" regarding improvements that could be made to the program to make publication of games easier.
Microsoft provided developers with free dev kits and Unity middleware, and as a result, since the publication of the first ID@Xbox game Strike Zero Suit on Xbox One in 2014, more than 300 games have been released on the console via the program. The company has also stated that there are "way more than 1000" games currently in development for Windows 10 and Xbox One. Microsoft went on to say that:
[...] We continue to listen and work to improve things for developers every day—from reviewing and updating policies to take into account the needs of independent developers; to process improvements that free up developers’ time, enabling them to devote more time to polishing games; to whole new programs, like Game Preview, which enables players to buy and play games while they’re still in development and offer feedback directly to the dev team when it counts. We work really hard every day to never lose sight of our foremost goal: make sure Xbox players have tons of sweet games by making sure Xbox developers have the best development environment we can give them.
Microsoft has also stated that while it is working with independent developers to take full advantage of other gaming features such as Xbox Play Anywhere, Clubs, Looking for Group, Xbox One S, and the upcoming Project Scorpio console, it has no intention of slowing down.
The company has announced that Xbox Game Preview is heading to Windows 10 this year, allowing PC gamers to preview, purchase and play games that work-in-progress digital titles, and to help developers in improving their games by providing feedback. The first game, Everspace - which is a shooter set in space, with "AAA visuals" from Rockfish Games - will be debuting on Windows 10 later this year.
Apart from this, Microsoft has also teased that some "amazing ID@Xbox games" are coming to Windows 10 this year, with more in the future as well. The company plans to share more information about these new games and the Game Preview program soon.
Source: Microsoft