In addition to all the other controversies surrounding the Xbox One, we’re now hearing grumblings from independent developers who are unhappy that Microsoft is telling them that they need to have a publisher to sell their games on the Xbox One marketplace. Eurogamer last week talked with Lorne Lanning, the head of independent game developer Oddworld Inhabitants, who said that Microsoft’s new restrictions on independent studios mean that his company won’t release any new games for the Xbox One or the Xbox 360.
“Why do we need a publisher when we self-finance our games, we build our own IP, we manage our own IP and we’ve turned nearly two million units online as indie publishers sold — not free downloads?” Lanning asked rhetorically, while noting that Sony has chosen to take a very different path with its new PlayStation 4. “I believe, because there are so many seasoned, long-term game builders involved with the new PlayStation, they recognise the real innovations are going to come out of this space where people have the freedom and the insanity to try crazy new stuff.”
