the history of the 2000 independent games program

In preparation for its next service-focused speech in August, Microsoft looks back on the success of its ID @ Xbox program. Through a post on Xbox Wire, they review the beginnings of the program and the vision they have for its future. This is Chris Charla, senior director of the program, which tells us about it.

XBLA: the independent digital game

The world of indie gaming has changed a lot over the years. As Charla reminds us, the first independent games date back to the time of 8-bit machines, Commodore 64 or Sinclair. From that time, the games were exchanged packaged in freezer bags with, for the lucky ones, the mimeographed instructions. The gradual transition to digital has led to the advent of Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) took one of the big first steps in bringing these indie games to a major publishing platform, when the original Xbox was on its end of life and finally took off on the Xbox 360.

For the creators of the service, it was truly an arcade room: a place where you can play vintage arcade games and casual games on the main gaming system. As no plan ever works as imagined, Charla explains that it was the developers who saw the digital opportunity in such a service.

Some of the independent developers who continued to make games on PC – people like Jonathan Blow and the team at The Behemoth – saw these downloadable games and started to get ideas. And very soon, with the encouragement and enthusiasm of the people at Microsoft at the time, new games, original games, games from independent developers started appearing on XBLA. Digital distribution has freed console developers from the obligation to make games “the size of a disc” and freed them from the obligation to explore every kind of game imaginable.

It must be remembered that the development constraints were not the same as they are today. An example of this would be the size of the games. Originally, the maximum size allowed for an XBLA game was 40 MB. They were therefore necessarily smaller, and addressed genres such as 2D platform games, which were losing ground at the time. Without having to chase a full disc or fill out a list of items on the back of a box, these pioneering developers were able to simply pursue their creative visions and come up with games, like Castle Crashers, Limbo and Super Meat Boy.

Xbox One: the explosion of indie gaming

The eighth generation of console will be marked by “incredible growth in the independent scene ”. Games like Inside and We Happy Few (before Compulsion Games joined Xbox Game Studios) appeared at E3, and Cuphead, designed and created by a family with no previous game development experience, debuted at E3 in 2014.

Today, these games are so integrated into the video game landscape that it is difficult to design our gaming world without them.

Traditional publishers are still there, of course, to make amazing epic games, but independent creators are standing by them.

So much so, it seems, that Xbox no longer envisions an Xbox Show without the presence of independent titles. The Game Fests organized around the world are another sign of the importance given to this state of mind.

What about the Series X? Charla reminds once again that backward compatibility will ensure the conservation of our game library on the next console. However, it does not end there. The man adds that independent developers will have a “Essential role” on the next Microsoft console.

[…]Independent developers will play a vital role on Xbox Series X, with over 2,000 games already being optimized or in development for our next-gen console. Hundreds of developers have their Xbox Series X SDKs, and we’re sending more every day.

Moreover, the service has reached a milestone with the release of Swimsanity last week. In fact, there are now more than 2000 games released by independent developers. MMOs like Black Desert, fast action multiplayer games like Warframe, through more relaxed titles like Slime Rancher, amazing puzzlers like Human Fall Flat or filled with demanding platforms as in Celeste. What do all of them have in common? Freedom of creation.

You might think that the only thing these titles have in common is diversity. In fact, they represent above all the possibility of innovating, of being a pioneer and of creating in complete freedom, things that only independent play can afford.

Do not hesitate to see the few feedback from developers on l’article du Xbox Wire !

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