One of the biggest concerns about Microsoft"s Xbox One since the console was announced on Tuesday was the lack of information about supporting independent game developers. So far Microsoft has been silent about these plans, saying only that it won"t use the Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Indie Games branding for the Xbox One.
Today, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Microsoft"s Director of Programming for Xbox Live, participated in an online text chat with Yahoo centering on the Xbox One. As posted on the Major Nelson site, Hryb was asked what Microsoft was going to do "to welcome smaller, independent developers to the Xbox One." Hryb"s response was ... interesting:
We"re working on a plan for (sic). Xbox One is a platform that allows all creators, including those who work on games and apps, regardless of team size, funding, biz model, etc. to be a part of the future of Xbox One.
The statement is curious in two ways. One is that Microsoft does have a plan in the works to support small development teams but the fact that they are not revealing any more than that at this stage may show that the details are still in flux. The other interesting thing is that Hryb stated the Xbox One would welcome teams that worked on both games and apps, which suggests that mobile app teams could also submit their software to work on the console.
Source: Major Nelson | Image via Microsoft