Xbox One and Xbox 360 Policies Hinder Free-to-Play Titles, Says Warframe and World of Tanks Devs

Developers of free-to-play titles like Warframe and World of Tanks have expressed their frustrations with Microsoft’s certification and Xbox Live policies.

Digital Extremes vice-president of publishing Meridith Braun, who recently told OXM that they “would love to see Warframe on the Xbox One,” also said that “the ball is in Microsoft’s court with regards to allowing titles on their system that come from an independent developer and not an established publisher.”

Though Microsoft states it is necessary to ensure a certain level of quality, their current policies require developers to be partnered with a publisher or Microsoft Studios in order to release games on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Adding to the frustration, Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi, a publisher who will soon be bringing the PC free-to-play title World of Tanks to the Xbox 360, told Polygon that “One of the biggest challenges with Microsoft was the frequency of updates because the QA process and certification process takes an extremely long time. Totally unacceptable for a meaningful free-to-play.”

“We are working with them to do quicker updates,” he added. “We will see, there is a lot of work on the technical side and on the administrative side which should resolve in the acceptable quality of the product, including updates of the product including speed and rates. So we will see.”

If things get sorted out, we hope to see games like Warframe come to the Xbox One one day and steadier updates for free-to-play titles on the Xbox platforms. What about you?

Thanks, Pixel Enemy and Gamasutra.

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