Microsoft will not only allow indie developers to self-publish on Xbox One, but it has confirmed that every Xbox One console can be used for development.
Here’s the official statement from Xbox corporate VP, Marc Whitten:
“Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development. That every game and experience can take advantage of all of the features of Xbox One and Xbox LIVE. This means self-publishing. This means Kinect, the cloud, achievements. This means great discoverability on Xbox LIVE. We’ll have more details on the program and the timeline at Gamescom in August.”
As the statement also confirmed, retail Xbox One consoles will be capable of functioning as dev kits – seemingly much like Apple’s iOS devices – eliminating the need for small indies to fork out for often prohibitively expensive developer-specific units.
(via CVG)