14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Microsoft in charge of the Xbox One home console announces that it is ready to reveal the names of a huge number of indie game developers who are currently part of the ID@Xbox program and will deliver their titles on the next-gen platform in the coming years.
In an official announcement, the company explains that more than 200 teams currently have development kits and are working on their ideas.
The list includes but is not limited to:
4gency A Crowd of Monster Alientrap Games The Behemoth BetaDwarf Big Ant Studios Bloober Team Blowfish Studios Brain in a Jar Brushfire Games Cherry Pop Games Ltd Codeglue Code-Monkeys Compulsion Games Crunching Koalas Deco Digital Empty Clip Studios Escalation Studios EXOR Studios FarSight Studios Fatshark Flix Interactive Four Door Lemon Ltd Frambosa Frima Glass Bottom Games HB Studios Headup Games Heart Machine Holmade Games Humble Hearts LLC I Fight Bears Implausible Industries Iridium Studios iSquared Games Ltd Larian Studios Mediatonic MeinMein Mighty Rabbit Studios Mimimi Productions nDreams Ltd Neocore Games No Goblin n-Space Piwot Pixel Balloon Playdead Rebellion Relentless Software RetroCoders Ripstone Robomodo Ska Studios Smudged Cat Games Ltd Snowrunner Spry Fox Tiny Castle Studios Toxic Games Vector Unit Vertigo Games BV VooFoo Studios Warhorse Studios WaterMelon Xona Games Zoë Mode
The most recognizable names on the list are Warhorse, working on the new Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Rebellion, Neocore Games and Larian.
A Microsoft representative adds, “It’s incredibly humbling to see so many fantastic studios there supporting Xbox One, from XBLIG and XBLA alumni like Ska Studios and Humble Hearts, to new studios like Glass Bottom Games and Heart Machine, and veterans including Robomodo, Zoë Mode and Playdead. We could not be more excited!”
The first titles created using the ID@Xbox program are at the moment in the certification phase, which means that they are being tested to make sure that all bugs are eliminated, with launch date announcements coming soon.
Microsoft also says that it is looking into changing the core procedures of ID@Xbox in order to make sure that more developers have access to it and that Xbox One users will be able to experience more innovative indie titles in the near future.
Sony is also courting small teams for its own PlayStation 4 and the two companies are offering funding and support for all studios that are ready to deliver their content on their next-gen machines.
After the Xbox One was first announced, the team at Microsoft suggested that each console could be turned into a game development device and that players would actually be able to publish their own creations, with minimal verification.
A developer console is implemented in the Xbox One OS, but it seems to lack important functions and users are warned that trying to access and use it can lead to long-term problems with the device, which are not covered by the warranty.
Microsoft might add new functionality to its platform in the coming months using the firmware update process.