Australian game studio Witch Beam claims that the new Microsoft ID@Xbox developer program’s ‘day one parity’ clause will force the company to delay the Sony PlayStation 4, PS Vita and Nintendo Wii U release of their newest title, Assault Android Cactus.
The ID@Xbox program only permits independent titles to launch on the Xbox One console prior to release on other game platforms.
“We started development on our other console versions long before self-publishing was an option for Xbox One, and the only way we could meet that requirement would be to delay the other versions of Assault Android Cactus,” said Witch Beam’s Sanatana Mishra. “The simple answer is that our plans wouldn’t meet the launch day parity requirement of the ID@Xbox program.”
Microsoft has stated that the publisher will consider waiving the parity clause on a case-by-case basis for studios with exclusivity contracts in place before the ID@Xbox program was announced.
“(Witch Beam) didn’t have an exclusivity agreement in place with another console platform before the ID@Xbox program was announced, which could have allowed us to get a waiver,” noted Mishra.
“Overall I think the ID program is very developer friendly and light years ahead of what Microsoft were doing even six months ago,” added Mishra. “But it’s also coming in late with a clause that punishes those who have been developing on other platforms that were readily available for the past year, and that’s something they need to fix before it’s a viable option.”
