In an eye-opening Twitter thread, one indie developer has shared his negative experiences with Sony over the years and the hoops he’s had to jump through to promote his games.
Iain Garner, the co-founder of publisher Neon Doctrine, put together a lengthy Twitter thread about “Platform X”, which he claims is “a very successful console and does not have Games Pass”. He later responded to a comment that it’s not Nintendo, so let’s be honest – it’s PlayStation.
Throughout the thread, Garner, who mentioned he would “burn some bridges”, explained the process he’s experienced with Sony over his own indie titles. One of the biggest issues was getting the games featured, which Garner says costs “a VERY reasonable minimum [spend] of 25,000 USD”. He also added how difficult it is to get a launch discount on their games, something he says other platforms allow.
It’s a very lengthy thread and reveals some insights into the behind the scenes of releasing an indie game. Many people have jumped on the thread to recommend the [email protected] program. Garner shared his experience with one of his older titles, SINNER, a game that was previously on Xbox Game Pass and apparently did “amazing”.
Garner added he would love his games to be in Xbox Game Pass, but those decisions lay solely with Microsoft. He did reiterate that none of the platforms are perfect, however, and fans should “support game creators rather than platforms.”
Finally, Garner shared some small insights into how Xbox Game Pass potentially works. While it’s Microsoft’s decision to put titles into Game Pass, they reportedly “take user feedback seriously”, and so Garner encouraged fans to email Xbox if they have any interest in their games.
It’s sad to see indie developers potentially get the short straw, especially when indie titles can deliver some of the best experiences on the market. The thread seems to have caught the eye of Xbox Game Pass’s community lead, so maybe we’ll see some of Garner’s titles on the service in the near future? Here’s hoping!
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