Microsoft scraps developer fees for Xbox 360 patches - Report

too little too late MicroFucks

hopefully now i can see some new mine craft updates soon

So there never actually was an excuse for some of those games that never got patched -at all- :( Some games didn't even receive just one! Even though it was free!

Well. Now I expect all XBLA and main title games, big or small, to receive good patching support.

Good. Now Minecraft better get up to PC levels now... I'm sick of playing the lamer edition when I want to play with my kids split screen.

Good. Now where is our Kinectless Xbox One for $399?

Good for them. Lets just hope people don't slack off on quality though...

I looked into the comments on the original article about Polytron talking about why they couldn't re-patch due to how much money it would cost, and everyone was giving them crap for it rather than looking at Microsoft's ridiculous policies. Now everyone applauds Microsoft's policy change because they actually understand what's happening.

Hypcrites.

A little late now isn't it?

both sony and microsoft charged devs alot for each patch, sony was more nice about it, ms patchs would usually take much longer to be approved usually 3 weeks wait

@ALCHEMISTx24x7 @HowlPendragon And by signing on with a pub, you loose IP. So no, not all games that choose to not sell their IP are trash.

lol this just means that ms is going to keep changing their policy to better match sony's. this must suck for ms just like how it sucked for sony that they had to change their strategies last gen.

This is great as long as it doesn't lead to even jankier games now that there is no cash punishment for getting it wrong.

MS moving into position to take over the world!

Microsoft *slowly* returning to corporate respectability....

Good for them. And more work is needed.

Wow it's about time. Maybe now Microsoft will actually have more then 2 indie devs that make games on their console.

I guess after Don Mattrick said: "We have a product for those of you who can't use Xbox One, it's called Xbox 360", they started to realize how many people would actually be staying with 360 vs upgrading this time. Must be why this appears to be an Xbox 360 policy only.

it is a bit funny to me that people gripe about games releasing unfinished but when there is a punishment for not fixing bugs by cutting into dev profits they are angry about it.

They should have done this a long time ago.

Geez what is MS trying to be with the Xbox? They are trying to be Apple and failed now they are just going to be the PS4. Hahaha. I love when MS fucked everything up, says "Ahh screw it" and just flat out copies the competition.

I get that all of this is potentially good for consumers but I just can not stand big companies looking weak and disorganized.

MS is all over the place right now still. I wonder what Xbox will be 6 months from now since they can't stand by any of the stupid decisions they make.

i think theyre trying to encourage their third parties to keep developing for the 360 even after the xbox one comes out. i wouldnt be surprised if we heard more news about discounts for consumers and developers regarding 360 games.

what?! they used to cost money? bastards!

Well, It's a step in the right direction. Though I once again feel this wasn't out of the kindness of MS's heart. With Sony making such a big push to get indie devs to make games for the PS4, they were kind of forced to stop with some of their prohibitive nonsense.

It's still not perfect though. MS needs to drop the publisher requirement IMO. It doesn't really help the developer any, just forces them to find someone willing to publish. Typically it doesn't help the game any, as they are usually finished or very close to finished by that point. All the publisher does is act as a middle man that takes a cut of the profits.

Good on Microsoft... I think... if I understand this correctly.

"Microsoft's choice to charge for additional title updates was so that developers would focus more on the quality of their software before initial release, GameSpot has been told."

This makes sense. It's frustrating as a gamer to buy a game and have it broken (e.g. The Sims) and then have the developers feel like it's okay because they can just issue an update. Meaning; developers can release an unfinished game and not see many repercussions to that.

Games should be of good enough quality that if the gamer never updates the game, it will play well and all the way through to the end.

Updates are nice because there are instances of games that are nearly impossible to test every scenario a gamer could run into in the game. For example: Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. The resources needed to test that game fully would be too much to justify releasing the game. That's why you see bugs in the initial releases and the game gradually gets better over time. (IMO - Bethesda could have done better with the initial release)

I guess what I'm saying is that, in concept, Microsoft's original plan is ideal. However, the reality is that it's just not possible to get 100% quality on every game. BUT that does not excuse developers from assuring 90+% quality on complex games and 98-100% quality on linear games. They would never have been able to get away with a broken game on older, non-networked consoles. It shouldn't be completely forgiven on newer, networked consoles either.

Forcing additional fees on developers isn't necessarily going to fix that "problem" anyway. Best to just find ways to encourage quality that aren't so hand-fisted.

Let's see if the next policy change lets indie's self-publish their games :P

It's about time they stopped that practice. Often patches on the 360 were very limited due to the cost to developers and games suffered because of it. Doing away with that cost means we can hopefully see more corrections to games to make them better instead of getting one patch and then having to put up with whatever faults are left from then on. This is a good move on Microsoft's part even though I still have no plans to buy their new system. I do have 2 360's though so at least for the time being it might help a little.

M$ is under pressure. They're becoming more and more like Sony everyday.

Definitely good news. Microsoft's online service has lost a hell of a lot of ground to PSN, and it's mainly because of crap like this silly fee.

$40,000 for a second game patch? thats incredibly inhibitive for innovation now isnt it?

i did not know it existed in the first place but im glad its gone for the sake of everyone.

Even I have to admit, MS is starting to pull their heads out their asses. The DRM reversal was a great thing, and something that never should have happened in the first place.

Now they removed the developer fees to re-certify games on the market. That means indie games will no longer be charged THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to implement a 1kb patch to fix a game-breaking bug. That's something that should have happened AGES ago.

Well done Microshit... I mean micro-transaction-soft....i mean Microsoft.

All that said, i'm still avoiding the xboned like the plague for the shit they tried to force on us, but I am genuinely pleased that they have removed, FINALLY, the dev fees.

Plus Sony offers a much better service and console all around.

This should be happening with X1 RIGHT NOW.

This may sound good, but is way too late. X1 is still extremely unfriendly especially against indies. Is the M$ going to scrap the fees for X1 in 2020 or what?