Microsoft has finally stopped charging developers to update their Xbox Live Arcade Games on the Xbox 360, this issue has been a hot topic in the past with developers such as Fez’s Phil Fish, who was unable to patch out a bug in his game because the title update would cost $40,000.
The confirmation of this came today from Xbox Live’s bumbling Major Nelson:
FYI for those asking: Microsoft eliminated fees for Title Updates on Xbox 360 Arcade games in April 2013
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) June 27, 2013
Strangely enough Fez was published by Microsoft, which means it is even stranger that they would not allow Phil Fish to update his game for free or at least at a dramatic discount. Patching had become a huge struggle for smaller companies who couldn’t afford the price, however even larger companies still can’t come up with the $40,000.
Famously, Tim Schafer from Double Fine could not afford to update Brutal Legend and probably still can’t considering that so far we only have confirmation that they have removed the fee for XBLA games.
Microsoft seem to be making some smart moves, ones that consumers and developers can get behind. If only the bullshit wasn’t there in the first place. Let me know in the comments what you think about the removal of the $40,000 price point.
