Speaking to VentureBeat, SpikySnail co-founder Niv Fisher has criticised the Xbox 360 dashboard and Xbox Live Marketplace in general for a failure to "encourage discovery or diversity", with too much storefront space given over to "nongame applications" and retail games.
"XBLA's marketplace has gotten way tougher in the last couple of years with a few titles getting lots of promotion, exposure, and sales, and the rest are getting hit pretty hard," he told the site. "At least compared to how it used to be, the store certainly hasn't grown 'well'."
The game was solidly reviewed, but SpikySnail feels a combination of stiff competition and obscurity have cost it sales. "There's a combination of several factors, which I still hope Microsoft will address at some point," Fisher commented. "I feel the current dashboard just doesn't work well as a storefront, especially if you want to encourage discovery or diversity.
"Games are hard to find, there's no friend recommendation system, and lots of the store promotional space goes toward nongame applications - and now, also downloadable retail games. Sales are usually poorly promoted, and dashboard placement is sold and bartered with. Small developers like us have very little to offer here and are often left on their own."
"The Splatters was on sale for only one day, but with a very significant price drop," he went on. "It was, by far, our best-selling day ever. Having already done a couple of sales before, it just goes to show the power in-dashboard promotion has over everything else, including reviews or media coverage.
"If this was something Microsoft would do more regularly, I think it would do a whole lot toward a healthier marketplace. It's really nice to have a big hit like Minecraft break all previous records, but that's really saying more about Minecraft than it is about XBLA in general."
"The first couple months after launch, we were pretty disappointed with the sales. But looking at the numbers since, we're actually in very good company, sadly. Meaning, we're not the only ones getting hit, and great games are getting lost in that store, which is a real shame."
I spoke to a number of leading independent developers about the future of Xbox Live Arcade last year. Suffice to say, Fisher isn't the only one who has bruised feelings about support from Microsoft.
For more on what tomorrow holds, check out our piece on Xbox Live's 10 year history.
8 comments so far...
Gazisdaman on 15 Jan '13 said:
While it's all very well saying that it increases diversity and creativity, it does not increase profits which is what Microsoft is interested in. They are hardly going to give prime advertising slots to indie developers, with barely two pennies to rub together, when they can give them to big companies that can pay top dollar for said adverts.
bamozzy on 15 Jan '13 said:
Personally I have never bought an Indie game. My son has bought a couple and really enjoys them though but for me I have not seen a game that has grabbed my attention.
I have retro collections of games on disc so I can play poor graphic, basic but fun games and get achievements! However I rarely play these as I prefer a more modern gaming experience whether that be a great Solo experience or co-op/MP.
Unless an Indie Game delivers something that I do not have already or improves on something I do then why would I buy - regardless.
It seems that the majority if not all indie games are clones of something and whilst I do think it is great that they are offering a cheaper alternative I just really don't play those type of games. I have approx 5-10 XBLA games and I rarely play those either but I have only paid full price for 1 and have had at least 50% off all the others.
I would like to see an Indie Awards by Microsoft themselves that highlights the biggest sellers, most creative, highest voted by the gamers themselves etc.. to promote those games worthy of recognition as there are bound to be a few greats amongst that number of games!
CunningSmile on 15 Jan '13 said:
The only Indie game I've bought was on the recommendation of a friend and was the (frankly brilliant) Cthulu Saves the World. Highly recommend it for any fans of the old 8 Bit Final Fantasy games, and for breaking the fourth wall and self referencing humour. Plus at 200 points for 8 hours of game play it's a bargain.
Apart from that the few times I've gone to the indie store any decent games are lost amid a million cheesy, naff or down right offense games that seem mostly aimed at the stereotype that gamers have never seen a girl naked, or indeed talked to one. I feel sorry for anyone trying to break into development like this, but the company you keep is really not doing you any favours.
FishyGinger on 15 Jan '13 said:
Fine I'll try buying other games without naked women. Jesus, it's like an interrogation...
Actually the only indie game I got a trial for was some pool game. Was ok, bit sterile.
Sandbwoy on 15 Jan '13 said:
The only Indie game I bought was "Total Miner Forge", which is a blatant rip off of Minecraft. It only cost 80MP, so I bought it to see what it was like before deciding whether to pay the full price for Minecraft. I did actually enjoy it and spent hours playing. One of the downsides of Indie games is the lack of achievement support. If they had unlockable achievements, I think I would download more Indie games. But for an average of 80MP, you can't have everything I suppose.
CunningSmile on 15 Jan '13 said:
I heard a MS exec say once that they didn't let Indie games have achievements as it would devalue them if the (mostly unregulated) Indie Store was suddenly full of games called "Score 1000G in 1 second"
Naknitushka on 16 Jan '13 said:
Wow what a surprise. Indie game creater says good indie games are getting lost. Well guess what... Create a good indie game! Problem solved! Most, if not all indie games on Xbox are pure junk. Get over your self and try saying something more like: indie games can be a fun for some people, give it a try.
There are no great indie games. End of discussion.
socheeky on 16 Jan '13 said:
Ummm, everybody seems to have missed the point here. The game in question was made by an indie developer and sold in the ARCADE section of XBLA. This story has nothing to do with the INDIE section of XBLA, any more than Fez or Braid or Meat Boy does.