Xbox is taking steps to give more indie games a high degree of visibility on the Microsoft Store, offering a wider selection of games for players and giving independent developers a better chance to reach them. The Xbox brand has worked for years to build a strong relationship with the indie dev community, and this change to its digital storefront is intended to ensure fairer methods of showcasing games to potential customers.
Microsoft's commitment to independent developers gained momentum prior to the release of the Xbox One in 2014. At the same time that Xbox launched that console, Xbox announced that it would launch and sponsor an Independent Creators Program, providing tools, development kits, and information to game developers who wanted to be involved in the console market. That culminated in the ID@Xbox program, which allows indie developers to self-publish games built for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and has seen thousands of games make it to the console market.
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The Microsoft Store makes it easier to find new games
Xbox is now making changes to the Microsoft Store that should help developers, and especially those in the indie scene, reach more players. A new message to fans and developers alike, coming at the end of the GDC Festival of Gaming, announces that upcoming policy changes will soon be adopted regarding the digital store's algorithm, and specifically the New Releases section. One immediate change, made in response to complaints from developers, is that publishers will not be able to manipulate the system into showing their game more often by listing the same bundle of games multiple times in the storefront. “Our developer code of conduct is clear: people can't try to displace other games, and it's important to us that we host a store where every game is treated fairly!” it says in the official announcement.
Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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Rearrange the cases in the correct US release order.
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This is just the first change Xbox has planned for changes to the store's algorithmic policies. It says that more changes are coming soon, although there is no indication of what they will entail. The message seems to specifically target indie developers, referring to them several times and praising the indie dev community for their ingenuity. Indie games in 2025 generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales on the Microsoft Store, and Xbox leadership credits the financial success to the “amazing developers who make the games.”
Even with the expanded horizons of Xbox's sphere of influence, including the expansion of cloud-based gaming and stronger connectivity between console and PC gaming, Microsoft still seems to have big plans for the ID@Xbox program. In an interview with GameRant about a year ago, program director Guy Richards expressed a desire to help independent developers reach audiences across a variety of platforms, a trend that Xbox itself has followed in recent years. Xbox has also increased the number of information sessions it offers developers in the independent market, including those in its Developer Acceleration program. By early 2025, Xbox had paid out more than $5 billion in royalties to independent developers who have published games through the ID@Xbox program, making it a lucrative incentive for both sides.
In addition to Xbox promoting smaller developers through these outreach and development assistance programs, Xbox Game Pass has featured hundreds of indie games that have been picked up through the ID@Xbox program, giving those chosen a direct link to an estimated 35 to 37 million players around the world. Indie hits on Xbox Game Pass in recent years include Kenny Suns Ball x PitLocalThunk's Balatroand Aggro Crab's Another crab's treasureand while the new announcement from Xbox notes that not all indie games will see that level of success, the platform provides many opportunities for indie developers to reach gamers.
Source: XboxWire
