Fez Creator: Indies Don’t Want to Publish on Xbox One

We know that there will be a slew of big-budget projects coming the Xbox One when it makes its debut later in 2013. However, one of the biggest questions coming out of the show concerned Microsoft’s relationship with independent developers. Many people believe that all smaller games will be making their way over to Sony during this new generation, and according to the outspoken creator of last year’s XBLA hit Fez, no one wants to publish on an Xbox.

Fish had many different struggles bringing his creative puzzler to XBLM in 2012. Microsoft’s hefty charge for indie developers to patch their own games was just one problem he ran into after finally launching the game, but Fish doesn’t think it’s just him that’s having second thoughts on working with an Xbox. According to his recent talks with other small development houses, the desire to push games onto the Xbox One isn’t exactly great.

“Let me tell you something: most indies I know already don't want to publish on a Xbox console,” Fish remarked over his Twitter account. “Publisher or no publisher.”

It was just announced recently that the Xbox One won’t allow indie developers to self-publish their games, which is what Fish is referring to in the above Tweet. Microsoft has said on multiple occasions that this particular crowd will be a big part of the company’s future, but if what Fish said is true, we may be seeing a much stronger downloadable market on the PlayStation 4 than the Xbox One.