Are you part of the ID@Xbox program? If so, good news! You’ll have access to renowned middleware Unity at no cost – yep, completely free.
In today’s PR, released on Xbox.com, it clarifies the motivation for the announcement: “One of the cool things about working at Microsoft is that we have access to pretty amazing resources. For independent developers though, tools like Unity on console can cost quite a bit.”
According to Microsoft, initial internal discussions revolved around potentially paying for Unity licenses to certain developers. The end decision was, rightfully, that it “didn’t feel right” to pay for some and not others.
Earlier in the year, it was (wrongly) thought by many that Microsoft would not be supporting independent development in the same respect as Sony and their PS4 console. Undoubtedly today’s announcement is to help counter-act that common misconception –
“To us, ID@Xbox is about providing a level playing field for all developers.”
For anyone unaware, Unity allows for cross-platform development. The software is aptly marketed with the slogan “Develop once, publish everywhere!”
When it arrives in early 2014 as an add-on, it will fully support all the unique features of the Xbox One; Kinect, SmartGlass, and the impulse triggers of the Xbox One’s new controller.
Conveniently, and indisputably a win for Microsoft’s entire ecosystem, Xbox One development can easily be pushed to Windows Phone and Windows 8 (desktop, laptop, tablet, hybrid… any of the myriad of form factors that now entails!)
“So from one base game, developers can ship their games across all Microsoft platforms,” Program head, Chris Charla said.
In regards to marketing, all games will be treated equally and promotion will simply be given to the “promising-looking” Xbox One independent games. This echoes Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten comments back in August: “”All games are treated equally, it’s not like ‘Oh, I have to go to the Indie section.'”
Today’s announcement comes on top of the bonuses applicable to accepted applications to the ID@Xbox program – which means developers can get two development kits for free.
Technically, this makes it possible to start a two man studio for free. Considering Unity itself would usually be $1500 – that’s a pretty enticing offer.
Extra Xbox One development kits cost $500 each, whilst for natural comparison, Sony’s PS4 development kits cost $2,500.
Will today’s announcement be attractive to potential Xbox One developers?
