XBLA: Get XBL Indie Games Games Now For As Little As $1
The XBL Community Games as of today are now officially Xbox Live Indie Games, and along with the rebranding some some very substantial changed to the marketplace - including the pricing structure.
For developers, those in Germany and Japan can now be a part of the XNA Creators club and submit their own games - and as of August 11th, when the new dashboard update goes live, those in Japan will also be able to download Indie titles too. Developers will also now be able to send out free codes for their XBL Indie Games - no need to send off $5 to a gaming blog so they can care enough to review your game.
For buyers of XBL Indie Games, a substantial price decrease. It's been well documented that the 800MSP price point appears to be too much for a lot of people looking into these titles. Well no longer - instead of 200, 400 and 800MSP price points Indie Games will now only be able to sell games at 80, 240 and 400MSP - or $1, $3 and $5USD.
Those who are currently on the old pricing structure can now change to the new prices, and on October 22, 2009 they will automatically be changed to their closest price. This is clearly a change made to battle the current iPhone marketplace where $1 games are the norm.
As this has just been announced, those pricing changes haven't come into effect just yet. In the coming weeks we'll make it known which games have changed price, and which ones you should download.
Are you a XBL Indie developer? Drop us a line to give us your thoughts on these new changes.
Comments
Currently working on a game for the Xbox 360 Indie Games channel and the new pricing structure is just as bad as the old one was. While there hasn't been anything released that has been worth 800 MS Points, I believe removing this price point as an option for developers is just going to ensure that nothing worth that price will ever be made. This change and the strict size limits are both rather discouraging. Personally I would like to see options for 0, 80, 240, 400, and 800 points. In the short term I think this will help the space, but in the long term it will be a hindrance to the growth of the space into a real economical doorway for indie developers to make the move to consoles.
Posted by: Twist | July 24, 2009 6:32 AM
This is ridiculous. I'm currently in the process of making a title for Indie games and was planning on a 800 point price tag. I refuse to sell my game for $5. I've just put way too much effort into it. If Microsoft doesn't make exceptions for higher quality titles, then I'll just have to figure something else out. I don't understand why they wouldn't even give you the option to sell at 800. Makes no sense. Just because most titles suck now doesn't mean they always will.
Posted by: Derek | July 24, 2009 4:47 PM
It's not the price of the games that's putting us off buying them. It's having to trawl through a load of garbage to find anything decent and then not being able to play the games unless we're logged into Live.
Posted by: Karma | July 24, 2009 10:32 PM