Xbox One "Needs to Do Better" Showcasing Indie Games, Major Nelson Says

Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has admitted that the company "needs to do better" at showcasing games from independent studios on Xbox One. Speaking on the latest Podcast Unlocked, it was mentioned that Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade promotions like Arcade Wednesdays and Summer of Arcade were great ways to call special attention to indie games. The Xbox One has an ID@Xbox program, but not Xbox Live Arcade. Hryb explained that Xbox Live Arcade was a great product, but it was of a different era.

"I think Arcade was a great, defining feature of [Xbox 360]. It was also a different time then," he said. "There wasn't really a way for a lot of independent developers to get out there; now we have Steam Greenlight and a bunch of other platforms and [studios] can go right to mobile now [holds up phone]. So there's a bazillion ways to do it."

Microsoft's ID@Xbox program is another one of these avenues. "So I think it's just that things have evolved," he explained.

The other major matter is discoverability, an issue that is becoming increasingly challenging to manage as more and more people start making games.

"Providing exposure, that's a different problem," he explained. "We need to be better at that and that's why I like to mention [indie games] on my blog, I put them in the show ["This Week on Xbox"] as often as I can. It's just that, everyone's making a game now."

Indeed, there are loads of games today, and not all of them are of the best quality, Hyrb said. "Some games don't deserve--they may not be very good," he said. But could Microsoft's internal team curate games and spotlight the ones it deems to be the best? It's technically possible, but Hryb pointed out that some developers want to get their games out ASAP, and sometimes it can cost a studio money to hold back a release to be featured in a spotlight sale like Arcade Wednesdays or Summer of Arcade, for example.

Additionally, Microsoft wants to avoid a scenario where developers say, "Microsoft tells us what to do all the time," Hryb said. (XBLA games on Xbox 360 were required to have demos, which created more work for developerss). But one thing is clear. Hyrb has heard the concerns about showcasing indie games and pledged Microsoft will make strides in this area in the future.

"We need to do a better job merchandising them, absolutely,"

Recently, XBLA creator Greg Canessa urged Microsoft to bring back the service on Xbox One. He said XBLA is a "multi-hundred-million-dollar brand" and could help Microsoft's console set itself apart from PlayStation 4.

Microsoft has indeed showcased some indie games in a big way. One example is Studio Wildcard's dinosaur game Ark: Survival Evolved, which has been regularly featured on the Xbox Wire blog and even on Xbox.com.