Xbox Head Phil Spencer has said on the The Inner Circle podcast that Microsoft’s ID@Xbox indie parity clause is designed to make Xbox One owners feel “first class.” The clause requires indie games to launch on the Xbox One at least at the same time as they launch on other consoles, if not first on Microsoft’s console. Spencer said:
The thing I worry about is–because I look at all the people who buy an Xbox, and they invest their time and their money in Xbox One, and, as millions of people obviously own Xbox Ones, I want them to feel like they’re first-class, because they are. When a third-party game comes out, it comes out on all platforms at the same time, and when indie games come out, I want them to come out and I want Xbox to feel like it’s a first-class citizen when an indie game launches. So, for me, the parity thing is, if you own an Xbox One, I want to work for you to make sure that when great content launches, if it’s coming to Xbox and another platform, that you kind of get it at the same time everybody else does.
Spencer also said that he understands some developers might not be able to afford launching a game on multiple platforms at the same time, and for that reason, Microsoft has “entered into conversations with people as they are launching it.”
Spencer’s comments resulted in him being criticized on a number of internet forums, which prompted him to say that he has “heard” people’s response to his comments. He tweeted:
I see the feedback on my stance on the clause, I want to rethink how we approach this, responses are heard.
What do you think of Spencer’s comments?
[Source: The Inner Circle Podcast (YouTube), Phil Spencer (Twitter)]
