Tim Schafer: Console patches cost $40k

“Ever since I played Geometry Wars I thought, ‘what a great new portal’,” said Double Fine founder Tim Schafer, talking about Xbox Live Arcade.

Schafer made gaming history last week with a record setting crowdfunding campain that has raised over $1.6 million dollars in response to frustrations with traditional publishers.

He claims Indie developers have been driven away from these "closed" platforms because of high costs.

"I mean, it costs $40,000 to put up a patch – we can’t afford that!" Schafer told Hookshot Inc. "It could have been our own little Sundance Film festival, a great sandbox for indie development."

But Schafer says there just wasn’t enough support: not enough marketing, not enough placement on the dashboard for these systems to grow properly.

"Open systems like Steam, that allow us to set our own prices, that’s where it’s at, and doing it completely alone like Minecraft. That’s where people are going.”