Xbox: ‘Indie games can sell systems’

Minecraft proves that indie games can sell consoles, says Xbox indie developer boss Chris Charla.

Charla is in charge of Microsoft’s new indie programme ID@Xbox, unveiled at Gamescom to attract small studios to Xbox One.

There has certainly been system sellers that have been indie games – Minecraft is a system seller,” he told MCV. Independent developers are hugely important for the entire industry ecosystem. I am massively excited by titles such as Titanfall and Halo. But I am equally excited when I see games like Papers Please, or Gone Home.

"Games can be hugely diverse. When you turn on your Xbox One, you see the broadest, most diverse spectrum of entertainment.”

So far PlayStation has been the most active in courting indies, but Charla said Xbox’s initiative is not a reaction. And refutes the idea Microsoft is late to the party, despite having no indie games at launch.

The origins of this goes all the way back to Xbox One’s architecture,” he said. We’ve been planning this for a long time. You can see where this started with 360’s indie titles. We haven’t even released a system yet, so I’d say it’s not a late announcement, it’s quite a timely one.”