Double Fine, Crytek and Vlambeer among wave of ID@Xbox devs

Microsoft has signed a bevy of studios and independent developers to bring fresh titles to its newly launched Xbox One console.

Double Fine, Crytek and Slightly Mad Studios are among the studios that have joined the ID@Xbox programme. Indies such as Vlambeer, Born Ready, Half-Brick and Capy are also on board, giving credence to Microsoft’s claims about wanting to make Xbox One a place for the indie community and the widest possible breadth of game development.

Chris Charla, director of ID@Xbox, shared the news in a blog post about the scheme’s progress, since it opened in September.

Charla said that Xbox dev kits have been shipped to more than 50 studios since the scheme began, and it has been “amazed at the response from developers”.

“At ID@Xbox, we’re as happy as anyone that Xbox One has shipped, but we still have our game faces on because there’s still a lot for us to do,” wrote Charla.

“We’ve had thousands of developers express interest in ID@Xbox and we continue to make some big strides to lower the barriers for independent developers to self-publish on Xbox One. Unity will be free to Xbox One developers, we’re continuing to hold developer events (ID@London is next week) and we’re also working behind the scenes to set up the system that will enable any retail Xbox One to serve as a dev kit.”

The scheme has attracted developers of all sizes from North American, Europe and Japan. And the studios themselves speak positivity of the platform holder efforts so far to facility their needs. Crytek has only just finished making the retail release Ryse: Son of Rome for Xbox One, and now its looking to self-published on the system through the ID@Xbox scheme.

Charla added that he and his team have many more names to reveal, and is looking forward to launching the first title on the ID@Xbox scheme early in 2014.

The list of ID@Xbox signees so far includes:

• Behaviour
• Born Ready Games
• Bongfish
• Capy
• Comcept
• Crytek
• Definition 6 (Chris Hecker)
• Double Eleven
• Double Fine
• Drinkbox
• Gaijin Games
• Half-Brick
• Happion Labs
• Hiddden Path
• High Voltage Software
• Iron Galaxy
• Inis
• Jackbox Games
• Panic Button
• Nicalis
• Ninja Bee
• Other Ocean
• Signal Studios
• Slightly Mad Studios
• Team17
• Team Colorblind
• The Odd Gentlemen
• The Men Who Wear Many Hats
• Vlambeer
• Way Forward
• Zeboyd Games
• Zen Studios

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