Micorsoft"s Xbox division has had a long history of promoting digital-only games made by small independent teams. It began with the launch of Xbox Live Arcade for the original Xbox, and later the Xbox 360, in 2005. In 2013, ahead of the launch of the Xbox One, Microsoft launched its self-publishing program for the console for indie game developers, called ID@Xbox.
Since then, Microsoft"s iD@Xbox team has been busy promoting indie games on the Xbox console platform with events like Demo Showcases and its own streaming events to promote new and upcoming titles. Today, the team has announced a new effort to put a spotlight on those kinds of games in the Xbox Store.
The Xbox Wire site reports that starting today, Xbox console owners who browse through the Xbox Store will see a permanent hub devoted to indie games. It will be refreshed every Wednesday.
One part of the hub will be labeled as "Featured Indies" which will show a selection of recent indie game titles picked by the ID@Xbox team. There will also be other parts of the hub that will have games grouped in special themes, including "Games to Play With Your Cat." Other games from new creators, international indie games, and upcoming game titles will be grouped into their own categories, including future games that can be placed on an Xbox gamer"s wishlist.
Finally, in the final week of each month, the team will pick six special games to be placed under the Indie Selects category. Microsoft states:
Not only will the Indie Selects be featured in a special collection for that week, we’ll also release a monthly highlight reel on our social channels, and publish an Xbox Wire article to dig more deeply into which games were selected, and why we like them. In addition, the developers will receive a digital award featuring the Indie Selects logo that they can show off on their own channels.
Microsoft feels that having this new curated section of the Xbox Store devoted to indie games will "bring more attention to games that we feel are particularly special."