Published in Gaming

XNACG favors lower priced titles

by on06 April 2009

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Independent developers question future


Many independent developers are questioning the future of XNA Community Games developed for the Xbox 360 these days with the realization that the conversion rate from trial versions to full purchases is not what many developers hoped they would be.

The recent discussions among those developing XNA community games are concerned that those titles that are successful are mainly the lower priced titles. From the data that has been making its way around the web from various developers some of the best community titles have some of the lowest conversion from the trial version to the fully purchased version, and many developers are questioning the future of independently developed community titles. One thing is for sure, and that is that both the independent XNA Community developers, as well as Microsoft, could do more to market these titles.

The worst news is that at least for XNA Community titles, buyers favor the titles that are priced the least; and more expensive titles, while often of much better quality, are passed over just because of their price. In discussions with several Xbox 360 owners that purchase a lot of games on both Xbox Live Arcade and XNA Community Developer titles, these gamers complained of the high prices of many titles versus the replay ability of the title in question.

While it is obvious that the XNA community titles are a bonus for Xbox 360 owners, it is very hard for developers to make a living from just developing titles for sale in the community games section. While many of these titles are the same quality as the commercial developed titles, Xbox 360 owners do not seem to favor the purchase of higher priced XNA community titles. This spells difficulty for developers hoping to make their mark on this platform.

The inability of independent XNA developers to turn a reasonable profit for the time invested in a XNA title could lead to fewer titles being developed. It is something that Microsoft will have to look at going forward, as the offering of community games is an area that is an advantage over other platforms; but at the same time, better marketing of the titles could prove to be the key for both the developer and Microsoft, as developers that spend time marketing their titles seem to have a high conversion rate and much more likely success.

Last modified on 06 April 2009
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