Rumor: Microsoft to announce indie self-publishing

Like DRM and mandatory internet before it, Microsoft is reversing its decision on indie self-publishing for Xbox One, sources have told Game Informer.

Currently, Xbox LIVE’s policies prevent independent developers from releasing their games on the Xbox platform without a publisher. Under its new policies, developers would be able to self-publish and set their own release dates and prices.

This would likely come as a reaction to PlayStation 4‘s self-publishing capabilities, which allows developers to set their own price and release dates, and has garnered the support of top independent developers—as showcased at E3.

Additionally, the site’s source claims Microsoft is “drastically overhauling” its certification process and will use an iTunes-esque 14-day turnaround system for approvals. Rather than extensive code-checking, the company will instead look for terms of service violations and significant bugs.

The site was also told, but could not confirm, that every Xbox One unit can be converted to a debug console. Instead of specific hardware units, Microsoft can authorize the console ID to play pre-release code.