Multiple developers have been asking Microsoft to consider introducing a Steam-like Early Access programme for Xbox games, according to ID@Xbox director Chris Charla. He is the man to go to for indie developers and had the following to say on the reports...
Right now on Xbox One and Xbox 360, you can do betas, A lot of games do, and some games do private betas. When we talk about early access, it typically means a game that you buy and it evolves over time to become 1.0, so you're buying it before it's 1.0 - Minecraft on PC is a perfect example. It's something developers have been asking for, and we are listening really closely to developers, but I don't have anything to announce on that right now.
However both Sony and Microsoft do not want their digital marketplace to be flooded with broken games that may never see a full release so both are cautious in the manner in which they approach this.
It's a really interesting issue with digital marketplaces, and it's something our store and marketplace team think about all the time. There's a lot of heavy deep thinkers, experts, PhDs working on these problems at Xbox every day - not just for the Xbox store, but for Windows Store and Windows Phone. Our goal is to have a rational marketplace, where good games are visible and sell well.
However both Sony and Microsoft do not want their digital marketplace to be flooded with broken games that may never see a full release so both are cautious in the manner in which they approach this.
It's a really interesting issue with digital marketplaces, and it's something our store and marketplace team think about all the time. There's a lot of heavy deep thinkers, experts, PhDs working on these problems at Xbox every day - not just for the Xbox store, but for Windows Store and Windows Phone. Our goal is to have a rational marketplace, where good games are visible and sell well.
