MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Microsoft’s policy regarding the exchange of MS Points for currency is leaving Japanese developers on the short end compared to their peers, according to G.Rev boss Hiroyuki Maruyama.
XBLAFans translated Maruyama’s statements on Twitter regarding the compensation discrepancy, citing it as one of the main reasons Japanese devs largely avoid making games for Microsoft’s console.
A strong yen and a weak dollar is very damaging to us because XBLA and DLC are ‘export products.’ That’s why Japanese developers avoid making games for Xbox 360,” he said. When we released Strania on XBLA, the rate was 80 per dollar. If Japanese people buy our game in MSP, we receive in dollars.”
Maruyama refers to Microsoft’s apparent policy that sees XBLA revenue paid in US Dollars. If a product costs 1600 MS Points, the developer receives a cut of the equivalent US dollar price ($20) for those points. 1600 MS Points costs about $25 in Japan when converted to US dollars.
When the dollars are converted back to yen, the Japanese developer then receives its cut of a significantly smaller amount.
XBLAFans claims other Xbox Live developers verified the policy under condition of anonymity, though Microsoft has yet to provide official comment on the matter.
