$2.5 billion of royalties in nine years of existence: this is the sum donated by Microsoft to independent developers on its game platforms. The article published on the American Xbox Wire also announces that the partner titles of the ID@Xbox program have seen their income almost double the past three years. At a time when Sony is showing signs of weakness vis-à-vis its collaboration with independent studios, it is for Microsoft to show that its ecosystem is best suited to their success.
Recalling in particular that it is thanks to them that Microsoft began to consider the cross play with other consoles than their own, Chris Charla therefore paid tribute to these developers who “dictate and accelerate the pace of innovation in the industry“, and praised their work “progressive and important“.
He also made a point of pointing out that “developers and publishers“had harvested”hundreds of millions of dollars” thanks to Game Pass rights. Charla did not hesitate to highlight the possibilities offered by integration with Microsoft’s famous subscription: on average, its members would try to try out 30% more different genres, and would play 40% more games.
New proof, according to Microsoft, of the company’s commitment to indies: the launch of ID@Azure, announced at GDC 2022, which provides independent studios with the services of clouds from the American giant, on all platforms.
4600 developers, from 94 countries, would thus be present on Xbox and 1000 of them would have registered for the ID@Xbox program during the last two years. More than 3000 independent games would also be available on Xbox.