Microsoft reportedly drops XBLA developer patch fees (Fez 2?)

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#1 Thu, 06/27/2013 - 11:08
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Microsoft reportedly drops XBLA developer patch fees (Fez 2?)

Microsoft has allegedly dropped the update fee associated with Xbox 360 titles, reports Eurogamer. Citing multiple development sources, Microsoft is said to have changed the policy earlier this year of charging developers tens of thousands of dollars to patch their games. The company will continue to charge a certification fee for the initial submission of a game to XBLA, but future updates are now free.

The policy's critics have grown over the years, with the proliferation of the indie scene and the economic viability of just going to Steam, where updates are free. The most high-profile spat in recent times was between Microsoft and Fezdeveloper Phil Fish, after a "nasty" bug was found that would wipe save files. Microsoft was going to charge its standard fee for Fish to update the game on Xbox Live, with Fish refusing to pay "tens of thousands of dollars." Fez 2 will not make its way to Xbox One.

With Sony's open courtship of the indie devs, not to mention the focus the company provided during their E3 press conference, Microsoft is on defense in terms of keeping the burgeoning scene happy in this era of digital distribution. The Xbox platform for indies (and their less substantial budgets) isn't what it once was back in the time of Limbo or Braid. But, you know, Microsoft is used to playing defense by now.

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/27/microsoft-reportedly-drops-xbla-developer-patch-fees/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-26-microsoft-no-longer-charges-developers-to-patch-their-xbox-360-games

Re-submission fees have also been nuked:

Update:Furthermore, we understand it is now the case that XBLA games are no longer charged for resubmission if they fail certification - there is a single charge for the first submission, but if it fails then the developer is not charged for resubmitting it.

This has apparently been added to assist smaller development teams who don't have the resources to test games as thoroughly as the larger publishers - although as with the title updates, Microsoft reserves the right to charge for excessive submissions.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 11:49
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 Geez, Shadow.  Check the gernal fuckery thread.  Maybe I'm alone in this, but I don't think every single tidbit of information should have its own thread.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 11:57
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this is important info

edit:  that thread you speak of would need to be read in order to know this was posted.......I don't read every single random thread.

 

also, I haven't started a single thread on the front page.  So it's not like I'm being excessive.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 11:59 (Reply to #3)
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Shadow wrote:

this is important info

edit:  that thread you speak of would need to be read in order to know this was posted.......I don't read every single random thread.

 

also, I haven't started a single thread on the front page.  So it's not like I'm being excessive.

 

I know.  I'm just busting your balls.  It isn't like I'm speaking ex cathedra or anything.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 12:00
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See!

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 13:10
Shadow's picture
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cheeky

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 13:19
Oldschool 2o4f's picture
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Shouldn't the title specifically address that it's the 360? As long as we're busting ballz...

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 13:20 (Reply to #7)
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Oldschool 2o4f wrote:

Shouldn't the title specifically address that it's the 360? As long as we're busting ballz...

To bust yours then - it does.  XBLA does not exist on Xbox One.  All games, whether arcade, indie, full retail, exist within the same "Games" menu.  Xbox Live Arcade is an Xbox 360 specific feature, and thus this addresses Xbox 360 specifically without requiring a title change.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 13:33
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Lol Deep

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 13:36
Oldschool 2o4f's picture
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So that's what the little A on the end stand for!

BTW, how long have you and Shadow been dating? (so defensive...)

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:44
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Actually a lot of people are reporting this article wrong not here but on a lot of other forums, mainly due to news site using poor titles for the article. They only agreed to drop "re-certification" fees. For example "Fez" developer bitched awhile back b/c he created a patch for the save game glitch, but MS didn't pass it so he fixed it, and resubmitted it, however they wanted to charge him the fee again for the same patch. So not only did he have to pay for the failed patch, but they wanted to charge him again after he fixed the failed patch.

So this is what MS is dropping the fee from. If your patch fails certification, they won't charge you again to resubmit like they've done in the past. However, they've stated developers who take advantage of this may still be charged the fee again if the number of reapplies gets too high. Ms has stated they will still charge developers an initial submission fee of the rumored 40k.

Thu, 06/27/2013 - 17:43
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Nevermind didn't see the update part at the bottom of your initial post. I just clicked the link to the article and left, and when I returned posted without re-reading the post again. My bad!

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