At Xbox, we have seen firsthand the magic that independent developers can bring to gamers worldwide. The reception to ID@Xbox on Xbox One has been fantastic, with more than 1,000 developers with kits in hand working on the next generation of games for Xbox One and Windows 10. As much as we are excited about what is ahead, it is important to us that we acknowledge and celebrate the path it took to get here – while taking the next step forward together with the community.
Today we communicated to developers that we’re beginning the sunsetting process for the XNA Creator’s Club and Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) on Xbox 360. We’re working to ensure the process is as smooth as possible and to minimize any impact for developers who are still working on XBLIG games for Xbox 360.
- As of today, we’ve stop taking new subscriptions or membership renewals, but we’ll ensure that current members who are still working on games have any memberships that expire “topped off” until September 9, 2016. After that date we’ll no longer allow new games to be published. All creators with a valid subscription as of today will receive a free lifetime Windows Developer account (normally $99).
- In September 2017, we’ll stop selling XBLIG games, close the store and pay out all money earned by developers. Of course, players will still be able to re-download games they own and continue to play the games they own.
- Longer term, over the next two years we’ll be working with game conservationists and creators to preserve the legacy of XBLIG content. We look forward to sharing more details in the future.
XBLIG is where many great developers got their start, and “diversity” doesn’t even begin to describe the incredible variety of games that creators made on XBLIG. So seeing the end come into view is definitely bittersweet. But it’s also a great time to reflect on the legacy of XBLIG. Not just what it accomplished, but how far the game industry has come in the nine years since the first beta of XNA Game Studio was released in August 2006.
