Xbox Live Indie Games is gently being disabled by the end of 2017
Today, XNA Game Studio developers who have been registered members to self-publish Xbox Live Indie Games on Xbox 360 received a nicely worded email today, indicating that the XBLIG would no longer be functioning by the end of 2017. The email is very nice and even offers tokens to upgrade to ID@Xbox and Windows 10 development as a result of this decision. The full email is after the jump.
I saw @IndieGamerChick had a series of tweets confirming this, as well as some speculation to answer some questions regarding this announcement:
Xbox Live Indie Games will no longer be able to be published on September 9th, 2016
Xbox Live Indie Games will go offline in September 2017
— Indie Gamer Chick #DiscoverIndies (@IndieGamerChick) September 9, 2015
I don't know yet if you'll be able to play the games you've already bought. But the XBLIG market closes in September 2017. Verified.
— Indie Gamer Chick #DiscoverIndies (@IndieGamerChick) September 9, 2015
I don't know yet if you'll be able to play the games you've already bought. But the XBLIG market closes in September 2017. Verified.
— Indie Gamer Chick #DiscoverIndies (@IndieGamerChick) September 9, 2015
To be clear: Xbox Live Indie Games, aka XBLIGs, are the self-published indie games made with XNA on Xbox 360, NOT any indies on XBLA or XB1.
— Indie Gamer Chick #DiscoverIndies (@IndieGamerChick) September 9, 2015
Here is most of the email that was sent out to all of the XNA and XBLIG developers:
… “Today, we are announcing that we are beginning to sunset the XNA Creators Club and Xbox Live Indie Games program on Xbox 360.Of course, enabling creators remains a core goal of Microsoft. As we move forward, we are excited to showcase the new Windows 10 Universal Windows Platform that enables independent developers to self-publish and release on multiple platforms such as PC, tablets, Xbox One and mobile devices. Third-party tools such as Unity, Unreal Engine, and GameMaker provide a great way for new developers to get started, and all are supported on Microsoft devices with Windows 10.
We also have a great program for independent developers creating for the Xbox One platform via ID@Xbox. You can find more information for both programs following the links below.
ID@Xbox Program
Windows 10
With these programs in place and offering a great way forward for development on Windows 10 and Xbox One, we are retiring Xbox Live Indie Games on Xbox 360 on the following schedule (the dates below are estimates and may change slightly):
September 9th, 2015: Users will no longer be able to purchase an annual membership subscription. Any creators who would like to continue active development after September 9th can contact xblig@microsoft.com for free tokens to enable development until September 9th, 2016.
After September 9th, 2016: Creators will no longer be able to publish their titles to marketplace.
Around September, 2017: The Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace will be closed.
Around November, 2017: We will make a final payout to all partners regardless of whether or not they meet the $150 minimum threshold.
We will have support in place for any questions that may arise until 12/31/2017. After that, the XNA Creators website will be taken down” …
– Thank you to @nobunagaota for the information.
Will you miss the Xbox Live Indie Games, or has games under ID@Xbox on Xbox One replaced that interest?
