Microsoft Announces Self-Publishing for Xbox One

For a few weeks, Microsoft has been mum about how it plans to address indie games on the Xbox One. Late last week, the manufacturer revealed every single Xbox One console would one day be able to publish games.

Marc Whitten, Corporate Vice President, Xbox, broke the news on Major Nelson's blog, and announced the Xbox One Self Publish Program.

"Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development," Whitten said. "That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox Live. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox Live. We’ll have more details on the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August."

Microsoft and indie developers haven't always had the best relationship, but if this turns out to be a great and simple way for devs to get their games out there, the Xbox One could gain some ground back on the PlayStation 4 in that regard.

Additionally, there are some rumors the Xbox 360 will also be allowing self-publishing at some point down the line. According to Polygon, FarSight Studios announced it would be publishing The Pinball Arcade through Xbox Live Arcade later this year. "Microsoft has just announced that indie developers (like FarSight) can now self-publish on Xbox Live Arcade instead of being required to find publishers for their games," the developer said in a newsletter.

More details are expected to come during Gamescom, which will take place on Aug. 21. We'll be paying close attention to what Microsoft's official plans are, as we hope the company's two consoles will be much more welcoming to indie developers than they have in the past.