Schafer waarschuwt voor afname Indies op XBLA

Double Fine-voorman Tim Schafer heeft in een interview met IndustryGamers zijn zorgen geuit over de afname van Indie-developers op het Xbox Live-platform. Schafer is van mening dat de console-fabrikanten een meer open platform moeten hanteren om zodoende de stroom aan Indie te laten toenemen.

"I really think it's something they can't dismiss and they should really pay a lot more attention to because he's calling attention to a migration, an exodus of real creative talent away from those platforms to more open platforms, and I think they should do something quick to reverse that," aldus Schafer.

"I think that that was kind of a warning call. It's not like ‘it would be nice to do this' for developers - [if they don't] they're going to lose out. Things change every generation and just because you're on top and the 900 pound gorilla in one generation, as you've seen, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't mean it'll be that way forever.

"I think that these threats that are possibly being ignored are going to hurt those guys."

Schafer heeft laten weten dat hij én de mensen bij Double Fine het erg waarderen als een platform open en toegankelijk is, zonder dat daar veel geld en moeite bij komt kijken:

"We can put something up on the App Store pretty easily, we can put stuff up on Steam really easily. I like the Xbox and the PS3. I like Sony and Microsoft, but those systems are closed and curated very closely and it costs a lot more money to go through that system, to patch a game.

"It makes me stressed out that if I put a game up there, I might not be able to patch it because it might cost too much money, whereas these more open platforms will let us manage our own price and our own updates. It's just a lot more appealing right now."

Schafer gelooft wel nog steeds in de Microsoft- en Sony-platformen an sich. De systemen brengen volgens hem wel meer dan genoeg mogelijkheden, maar zijn voor Indies niet aantrekkelijk totdat ze hun policy veranderen.

"There are good games on both platforms and that's the thing, is that I really believe in both those platforms, and I want them to succeed. So when you read an article warning about the migration away from the platform, that's a shame and we want that not to be the case."