game, the ID@Xbox team will sign a
Non-Disclosure Agreement so as to
keep things confidential and protect
your intellectual property. If your
game’s accepted into the program
you’ll be supplied with two Xbox One
development kits free of charge. This
process is the same whether you’re
new to the industry or a seasoned
developer. “I don’t think we had
much of an advantage, other than
the fact that we sort of knew who we
would talk to,” explains co-founder
of System Era and developer on
Astroneer, Brendan Wilson. “We cold-
emailed them and they didn’t know
who we were, so we had to pitch the
game the same as everyone else. But
having the knowledge that you can
contact them easily is invaluable.
You can shoot over an email to Chris
Charla directly if you wanted to. He
would talk to you, he’s that kind of
guy.” Which is just how the developers
of Oxenfree joined the program. “So
when we initially started building
Oxenfree, one of the first things we
wanted to do when we were ready
to show the game was to reach outto the ID@Xbox team, especially
because at that time we weren’t even
really a studio, we were just a team
making this specific game,” explains
Sean Krankel, co-founder of Night
School Studio. “When we looked at
games likeLimbo,InsideandBelow,
we said to ourselves, ‘when we grow
up we want to be those studios.’
We reached out to Chris Charla and
showed him some pretty early stuff at
E3 2015. And from there just started
the conversations about joining the
ID@Xbox catalogue.”Pitch perfect
Being a part of the ID@Xbox program
showers you with a wealth of benefits.
You’ll gain access to developer
documentation, a private forum and
free middleware to help develop
your game. But that’s not all, it’s
also great for gaining exposure and
getting your games noticed. “When
you’re an independent developer, any
support that you can get that will draw
attention to your game is valuable,”
explains Wilson. “It’s a great way to
get featured on the platform and to“Being a part of the ID@
Xbox program showers you
with a wealth of benefits”
TOP TO BOTTOM
Astroneer,
Absolverand
Sable.ID@XBOX
More Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 055