Microsoft starts accepting indie developers for Xbox One

With the launch date of the Xbox One looming so close over our heads, Microsoft has announced that it is starting to accept indie developers into its ID@Xbox programme. This is, of course, a great thing for indie developers since it essentially allows them to self-publish their games on Xbox Live. This would be a big step up from the Xbox 360, which earlier didn't allow any form of self publishing to its store.

ID@Xbox (stands for Independent Developers @ Xbox) lets developers apply to to have their games get published on the Xbox One. Of course, the games go through a curation process, so Microsoft will also have a say on what goes on the platform and what doesn't.

Those who participate in the programme get two Xbox One developer kits for free. There is no fee for applying to the programme or submitting games for certification.

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"There is more software that we still need to make," Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten earlier told Game Informer. "We built the architecture for Xbox One and Xbox Live to support the scenario to drive great content on Xbox Live. Developers can work on their game, we can provision the console. We need to get it ready for scale, how we handle the portals, how we handle the ingestion, the process for moving from a small number of developers to just clicking on a link to enable a console as a developer kit. We'll be adding the software to the architecture, and it will be an update. Part of it will be things that are in the Live service backend."