Xbox One’s indie scheme ID@Xbox has yet to launch, but Microsoft’s head of Xbox Phil Spencer has stressed that while he’s impressed by Sony’s approach to PS4 indies so far, gamers will see the benefits of the initiative once it launches.
It comes from the GDC vault archives, specifically Spencer’s ‘FireSide Chat’ session.
“They did a nice job at the E3 presentation,” Spencer said of Sony. “I was there and I saw their focus on the smaller developers, and I thought even just the way they staged it was really well done. And they had some great games to show, and they showed them in their booth. I guess for us it has always been part of our plan. It’s just when we were gonna talk about it, so they choose to focus on that part of their program earlier, and I think they did a good job.
“To say that we’re behind when I look at the progress that we have talked about here… I feel really good about the success that we’re having with independent developers looking at Xbox One as the target platform for them, and bringing their games.
“So… are we behind now? I don’t know. Right now I’d say that independent developers I’m hearing and talking to seem really happy with how we’re doing the program, and while we don’t control the dates of the independent developers – they own their own dates – I know we’re right on the cusp of games coming, and I think gamers will see the benefits of that program really quickly on Xbox One.”
