Microsoft to delist underperforming XBLA titles, launch first-party studio |
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The Xbox 360 Live Arcade service has certainly gone a long way - having sold US$ 250 million worth of downloads since its launch - but Microsoft is not one to relax and rest on its laurels. According to Xbox Live's general manager Marc Whitten, Microsoft's downloadable gaming service will undergo some changes in an effort to spruce up the Live experience.One such change is the size limit increase of XBLA games, from 150MB to 350MB. "This means that we need to allow developers more time and more space to make even bigger and better games," said Whitten. Microsoft also gave XBLA game developers more leeway in pricing their games in addition to the increased size limit. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness is one of the first games to take advantage of this price point.
An XBLA change that would keep game developers on their toes, however, is the delisting of games that are at least six months old and have a Metacritic score below 65. "We will be delisting older underperforming titles in order to keep the service focused on a section of high quality games," said Whitten. They won't be delisting games in an abrupt manner, however, since Microsoft will give the developers a three-month notice prior to taking them down from XBLA.
Finally, Whitten also mentioned that Microsoft will be opening a new first-party studio dedicated to producing "compelling and exclusive" content for XBLA. He didn't give any further details concerning the new studio nor the games that it will produce, but suffice it to say that it will definitely be something worth checking out. Do stay tuned for more details.
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Comments [refresh]
This is definitely a bad move. I'm assuming that they're removing both the listing in Marketplace, as well as the game files themselves. This alienates anyone who has purchased a delisted game, as they may no longer redownload their purchases. Crashed hard drives and such are inevitable, so M$ should design around such a fact. This is an insult to both the purchasers and the hard-working developers whose product is being pulled. It's not like they're going to save money by delisting games, they're obviously not taking up much bandwidth as it is. Damn the digital-purchase revolution, that's my stance and I'm sticking with it.
i mean get rid of older demos, if saving space is what they want, then thats the route. but honestly "underperforming " is entirely relative, just because one game doesnt sell as much as geometry wars, doesnt mean its selling poorly.
I bet you will still be able to re-download them though your download history. It's just that they are removing it from the marketplace interface. I think it's a great move, and needed to be done.
until they address the demos on my gamertag, with 0 gamerscore i really dont think "underperforming /selling" games is even an issue... work on that debunked spring update list and answer what the people are crying out for before you pull games is what i think. Also i agree with with removing older demos instead of xbla games
to everyone saying just remove demos...
if you have ever tried a demo and unlocked the full game you would know that the demo and game are one in the same.
the license data stored on your 360 is what makes it a full game and not a demo.
removing the demo files essentially means removing the full game as well.
i can understand wanting to cleanup the listing of games, but they must make sure not to burn customers.
if consumers can no longer download games they paid for, i see a rise in the number of "under performing" games...
"- but Microsoft is not one to relax and rest on its laurels."
kinda laughed about that line.....
the even more sad part about the 360 is there will be no xbox 360 spring dashboard update.
http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/05/22/ms-confirms-no-spring-update-a-drm-fix-and-an-xbla-restructurin/