Home Gaming All Xbox One consoles will be developer units

All Xbox One consoles will be developer units

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love the beer

Sony made quite a song and dance about how friendly they are going to be to Indie developers with their PlayStation 4 and Microsoft has been receiving quite a lot of negativity around their publishing model, but it all looks like it was a bait and switch as Microsoft has just knocked Sony out the park.

Apparently this was going to be their big Gamescom reveal but was leaked a little early leaving some in Redmond scrambling for more reveals for Gamescom.

According to the leak every single Xbox One will be a developers unit and will allow anyone with a bit of coding knowledge to create their own game and test it out on their local Xbox One without having to pay a licence fee or anything actually to get it going.

Now this doesn’t mean you can just stick your game on the marketplace, once you are happy with how incredible your game is you can then submit it for certification and then their will be costs incurred.

You also don’t develop on the console directly, as with all games the actual coding takes place on a PC and then ported to the Xbox One to test it out.

So this isn’t really that ground breaking but it could lead to some smaller titles making their way to the Xbox One as long as the certification costs are acceptable.

Last Updated: July 25, 2013

54 Comments

  1. Umar Kiiroi Senk?

    July 25, 2013 at 07:50

    This is fantastic news!! wow, really really awesome!!

    Reply

  2. Trevor Davies

    July 25, 2013 at 07:58

    That’s something really cool for devs. Not something I would have seen coming from MS.

    Reply

    • RinceWind

      July 25, 2013 at 08:39

      Totally didn’t see this coming too. Very nice move obviously aimed at placating the angry masses 🙂

      Reply

  3. Spathi

    July 25, 2013 at 08:06

    Well done MS. This is awesome! I feel for the certification people that has to go through all the penis shaped superhero games, but that isn’t my problem 🙂

    Reply

    • Trevor Davies

      July 25, 2013 at 08:26

      You heard about The Adventures of Richard Johnson Episode 1 – The One-Eyed Monster of Vaginastan?

      Reply

      • Ultimo_Cleric N7

        July 25, 2013 at 08:45

        KILL IT WITH FIRE!

        Reply

      • John Ambitious

        July 25, 2013 at 08:59

        Eye? That’s just creepy.

        Reply

  4. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    July 25, 2013 at 08:16

    Woah Microsoft. Stop the madness. All these amazing turn arounds and additional features and cool stuff. People are still trying to hate on you. You are starting to make hating you a little more difficult with each new feature.

    Reply

    • John Ambitious

      July 25, 2013 at 08:20

      I think the suits over at MS might actually even start wearing sneakers to work sometime soon

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        July 25, 2013 at 08:53

        Whahahahahahaha

        Reply

  5. Concerned

    July 25, 2013 at 08:30

    And the case being that every Xbox One comes with a Kinect 2.0, let’s see what those crazy Indie Developers can come up with! So now MS have AAA launch titles and we’ve got to wait for Indies? Just the opposite as Sony! ????

    Reply

  6. ElimiNathan

    July 25, 2013 at 08:33

    “Microsoft has just knocked Sony out the park”…. Naaaaaaaaaaaaaa

    Reply

    • John Ambitious

      July 25, 2013 at 08:58

      I’m with you man.

      Reply

    • Concerned

      July 25, 2013 at 09:00

      ??

      Reply

      • ElimiNathan

        July 25, 2013 at 09:06

        Hahaha not you again FFS

        Reply

        • Concerned

          July 25, 2013 at 09:23

          FFS indeed! My apologies then, I must’ve misinterpreted the “Naaaaaaaaaa” part of your comment as one of your usual MS sucks tantrums! But it would seem that I stand corrected then! ????

          Reply

          • ElimiNathan

            July 25, 2013 at 09:27

            They don’t suck dude, I’ve never said that

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      July 25, 2013 at 09:45

      lol, totally. What really gets me is how Microsoft is constantly reacting. They’re just not on the same page. At least they’re trying, but Thor’s Hammer, they need to start getting a clue.

      Reply

    • Mike E. Delta

      July 25, 2013 at 18:08

      should have added a ‘w’ to drive that one home…lol =p

      Reply

  7. RinceWind

    July 25, 2013 at 08:37

    This is awesome news. Nice one MS, nice one. Now, where are all those tools that say we all hate MS because we are SONY Fanboys, gods I hope they don’t return.

    Reply

  8. OVG

    July 25, 2013 at 08:40

    Finally, a tiny drop of positive energy in the pond of green goo.

    Reply

    • FoxOneZA - X-Therminator

      July 25, 2013 at 10:01

      R6K too much for the PS4?

      Reply

      • Jakster

        July 25, 2013 at 10:05

        That’s R6500 with a game. You need a game to play with the damn thing. Not like you can Skype outta the box now can you???

        Reply

      • Mark Treloar

        July 25, 2013 at 10:14

        So yeah first you pay and most places have not even got per-orders let alone launch prices. Second Phoenix Tech cant guarantee launch day consoles and at the rate things are going you would be lucky if it isn’t further delayed.

        Reply

  9. DarthofZA

    July 25, 2013 at 08:42

    A group of my friends and I have started working on 2 different indie games. They are both coming across pretty nicely. The one is for the apple/android stores, while the other doesn’t have a home yet. This news makes me very happy. Very very very happy!

    Reply

  10. Umar Kiiroi Senk?

    July 25, 2013 at 08:44

    Still wondering the extent of the support software with retail consoles.I wonder what the difference will be between the Dev kits that Indies can get now and the retail console “Dev Mode”

    Reply

  11. DarthofZA

    July 25, 2013 at 08:44

    On a side note, I would like to complain about the MWEB advertising you have. In the US, there is a lego service where you pay a monthly fee and then can hire lego sets. When you have finished building the set, you just send it back and then they send you whichever one you want after that. I saw your “FOR ONLY R369 pm” behind a picture of a lego xwing… and it has nothing to do with lego!!!!!

    Reply

    • LordCaptainAwesomeness

      July 25, 2013 at 08:51

      MWEB advertising? i am not seeing anything

      Reply

    • John Ambitious

      July 25, 2013 at 08:58

      Lego of your issues man.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Minion 47

        July 25, 2013 at 09:20

        UPVOOOOOOTE!!!!

        Reply

    • DarthofZA

      July 25, 2013 at 09:16

      Wow… a downvote? I was joking…

      But the advertising I see on the left and right of the page. On the left hand side..

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Minion 47

        July 25, 2013 at 09:20

        I got your joke dude, thought it was funny 😉

        Reply

      • Sageville

        July 25, 2013 at 10:32

        When you have to explain or declare your comment is a joke, then it wasn’t a good joke.

        Reply

  12. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    July 25, 2013 at 08:45

    WWOWOWOWOW!
    Point to Microsoft right there.

    Reply

    • John Ambitious

      July 25, 2013 at 08:56

      Watch out. Just now they charge you for that point.

      Reply

      • Ultimo_Cleric N7

        July 25, 2013 at 09:41

        ^^

        Reply

    • Mike E. Delta

      July 25, 2013 at 18:10

      I thought Microsoft was getting rid of Points? =p

      Reply

  13. TiMsTeR1033

    July 25, 2013 at 09:02

    That is good news for indie devs but how hard will it be to allow coding to be tested on xbox one and if the console is a dev kit how hard will it be for pirates to enable play of backup copies of games? A scary thought would be what could hackers do with xbox one power if it is dev enabled? just a thought

    Reply

  14. Maxiviper117

    July 25, 2013 at 10:18

    Do I smell hacking in the Xbox one future?

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 25, 2013 at 11:06

      probably, yes

      Reply

  15. Brady miaau

    July 25, 2013 at 11:03

    I am a developer of many years exp. I can develop in various languages, on various platforms, including ones with no OS (not that I do much dev anymore, but I can).

    I am sure there are many other on the forums that are like me (HVR (although seems far more embedded electronics) for one).

    I could care less for myself. But I can see the attraction, if I was in my early twenties. This is actually a very, very good thing to have. A hobbyist may well use this and use it well

    It also means that the future potential exists for non-games to be developed and run on my xbox, using the dev kits. That sounds fantastic.

    I am sure the clever people out there will find some fantastic functions, that MS will kill as soon as possible. Very interested to revisit this one year after release.

    Reply

  16. Lardus

    July 25, 2013 at 11:15

    Good for the guys who create those games and those who play those games. Not a feature that will draw me to the Xbox, but also not one to push me away. It goes in the DILLIGAF pile.
    *wow, a few non-perverted posts in a row from me!!*

    Reply

  17. DrKiller

    July 25, 2013 at 11:39

    This is interesting… It can also lead to piracy now. What stops a developer to develop a hacked dashboard to run games from a hard drive? Or XexMenu..

    Reply

  18. OminousRain

    July 25, 2013 at 12:18

    As we know Microsoft, there will be some ridiculous fees somewhere in the development process

    Reply

    • Concerned

      July 25, 2013 at 12:22

      But what If you’re wrong? Will you be willing to come back here and apologize?? Also, what’s your game park figure for “ridiculous fees” then??????

      Reply

      • OminousRain

        July 25, 2013 at 12:57

        If I’m wrong, then I’ll apologize. But if you look at the current Microsoft trend. Look at Windows 8. If you want publish any software for Windows 8 Modern UI, then you need a developers license. If you want to develop for Windows 8 phone, you need a developers license. If you want to apply a patch to one of your games on XBox, it cost you 10 000$ http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/fez-due-for-patch-following-microsofts-elimination-of-xbox-live-arcade-update-fees/

        Maybe I’m wrong, maybe Microsoft did change. But i doubt it. I would say that they might allow people to develop for free on XBox One, then when they want to publish, then they will charge publication fees.

        Or maybe you need a developers license to develop, but you do not need to unlock your Console.

        I highly doubt you will be able to develop a game and publish it free on XBox.

        But this is all guessing, and I’m basing my guessing on what they did previously.

        Never knew you had to apologize for guessing. But seeing the number of question marks, I’m guessing I hit a nerve. Which if I’m wrong, I’m sorry. For guessing… 🙂

        Reply

        • DarthofZA

          July 25, 2013 at 13:57

          If you’re in SA, and you’re a start up or indie developer, you can get the Developers license for free. Patching games on the Xbox is also free now.

          Reply

          • OminousRain

            July 25, 2013 at 14:01

            That’s good news. I did not know that.

    • Concerned

      July 25, 2013 at 12:22

      But what If you’re wrong? Will you be willing to come back here and apologize?? Also, what’s your game park figure for “ridiculous fees” then??????

      Reply

  19. Uberutang

    July 25, 2013 at 13:50

    What stops you from dev’ing a game, and then selling it on your own? If you can code it on pc and then run it on console, you can sell that code to the next guy that wants to play?

    Why bother with going via MS? all you need is a site to host and paypal or bitcoin.

    Reply

  20. Mike E. Delta

    July 25, 2013 at 18:06

    I’m a bit surprised at just how far the availability goes, I mean the whole story was never really set in stone but damn it if there’s no reason to hold industry events any longer… =

    Reply

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