Today at GDC 17, Microsoft announced the preview launch of Xbox Live Creators Program. This is a new SDK and developer program that enables anyone to quickly publish their title to Xbox One or Windows 10 after a quick certification process. Similar in many was to the [email protected] program, the following chart breaks down the key differences.
More details of the new program from the announcement:
Xbox Live will soon be open to all developers via the Xbox Live Creators Program – no concept approval required! You will be able to rapidly publish your game to Xbox One or Windows 10 through a short and simplified certification process.
Integrate Xbox Live social experiences such as sign-in, presence, leaderboards, and more into your title, with minimal development time. Xbox Live social features are designed to organically grow your audience, spreading awareness to over 55 million active gamers. The full set of Xbox Live capabilities is available via the [email protected] program and a table comparing the features is below.
Using tools you already use, and your existing Xbox One retail console, you can easily create or leverage existing code to develop your title. Supported game engines include Construct 2, MonoGame, Unity, and Xenko. We anticipate more game engines and tools to support Xbox Live Creators Program over time. Please check with your preferred game engine for their support of the Creators Program.
On Xbox One, which offers gamers a curated store experience, games published through the Xbox Live Creators Program will be available in the new, “Creator games section” within the store. On Windows 10 PC, games in Xbox Live Creators Program will be visible with the other games in the Windows Store.
Wouldn’t have been great if Microsoft never gave up on XNA in the first place? Still one of their most idiotic moves historically. It is my belief that this program will live or die on the quality of the curation. This does however offer a new and interesting avenue for indie developers, so could be a great new opportunity.