Both Sony and Microsoft have been courting indie publishers for quite some time, and both companies have had various amounts of success with indie publishers producing downloadable games for their respective systems. This trend should only increase with the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year. But what company is doing the most to bring indie gaming to consoles?
One major advantage Sony has over Microsoft is the ability for indie gamers to self-publish their own work. Microsoft will not allow this to happen, either on the Xbox 360 or the Xbox One.
This means that a indie game company must seek the help of a publisher, such as EA, Activision, etc. to bring that game over to the Xbox Live Arcade. This requires more money and effort from the indie developer, and could be killer to their game getting a wider launch. Sony will allow indie developers to self publish, thus reducing the costs associated with launching games and making it less time consuming. Previous reports have indicated the Microsoft overall is less pleasant to deal with than Sony when it comes to putting downloadable games on their system.
However, Microsoft does have claim to the most popular indie game of all time: Minecraft. The Mojang created game will be appearing on the Xbox One after it's rousing success on the Xbox 360. Minecraft is undoubtedly the smash hit of the indie game world, and no matter how many indie developers Sony has on it's side, it cannot claim that title yet.
It will be interesting to see how both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will use indie games in the future. Both systems are attempting to bring in the biggest indie game developers into their flock, and we shall have to wait and see which company wins this critical group of game developers to their side.
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