After a non-existant showing of indie games at the Xbox One reveal, Microsoft promises support for the small guys.
Indie developers have taken issue with Microsoft in the past few months, even though it was Microsoft who first introduced indie gaming on home consoles back when the 360 was in its infancy. Support for indie developers has waned as the 360's lifespan went on and it has beccme a major issue for those developers. Harder development processes, rigid publication guidelines, and poor advertisement have all contributed to the distancing between indie devs and Microsoft.
During the Xbox One reveal event, games were not at the forefront and as a result, nothing was said about independent development.
On the other hand, Sony has fully embraced independent developers. During the PS4 reveal, they gave three separate independent developers the spotlight and promised an open relationship with them.
With bigger problems on their plate though, Microsoft has made sure to come out and show their support for the indie community. In an interview with Kotaku, Don Mattrick, head of interactive entertainment at Microsoft, echoed these sentiments.
"We're going to have an independent creator program," said Don Mattrick. "We're going to sponsor it. We're going to give people tools. We're going to give more information."
Contradictory statements have come from other Microsoft executives, some even stating the the console would not support self publishing at all.
For a complete answer, gamers may have to wait for future events, or even for the console's release.
