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Next Penny Arcade Game Shrugs, Skips Xbox Live Arcade

Zeboyd Games explains why everyone involved quickly decided to head straight to Indie Games, despite Microsoft's shifting relationship with it.

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At least on Xbox 360, Penny Arcade released its first two forays into game development the same way most everyone else does: waiting for a slot to open up on Xbox Live Arcade. The slot system is full of problems, but it seems unlikely that much will change on this console.

Their latest, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 3, is taking a different path, instead publishing on Xbox Live Indie Games. It's one that's been well treaded by the game's developer, Zeboyd Games, the studio also responsible for cult classics like Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII.

Will Microsoft actually promote the release of the next Penny Arcade game on the dashboard?
Will Microsoft actually promote the release of the next Penny Arcade game on the dashboard?

"The thing that really attracted us to it in the first place was that it was pretty much the only [and] first way that a no-name indie developer without a lot of money could release on a home console," said designer Robert Boyd to me last week.

Both Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII made their debut on Indie Games, though neither became financial boons for the studio until arriving months later on Steam.

Launching on Xbox Live Arcade to gain a reputation, then showing up a few months later on Steam to reap the financial benefits has become a pretty traditional move for independents.

Zeboyd and Penny Arcade briefly considered releasing Episode 3 through the XBLA system, but that wasn't a very long conversation, especially since the game is coming out on so many other platforms, including PC and iOS.

Part of the reason, explained Boyd, was anticipating that most sales wouldn't come on Xbox 360, anyway.

"Our Steam sales are exponentially greater than our Xbox Live Indies sales," he said.

Episode 3 launched on Steam this week, and comes to Indie Games "later," a delay caused by a last-minute bug.

Indie Games allows Zeboyd and Penny Arcade to sidestep the criticized system, have more options for pricing (it's well known that Microsoft largely determines what games are priced at, not developers and publishers), not be charged thousands for issuing a patch, and have more direct control over the release date--there are no "slots."

Microsoft has shown a hot-and-cold relationship with Indie Games, at times upgrading it with needed new features like increased file sizes and the ability to publish a game when the developer says so, rather than immediately after surviving the service's peer review system. Launching a game at 3:00 a.m isn't a great strategy! Other times, Microsoft's come under fire for burying the service on the dashboard, preventing many from ever discovering it.

"It’s not so much that Microsoft has tried to stomp it out or make it horrible or anything," said Boyd. "I think it’s just a low priority for them, and so you have a few people at Microsoft who are really pushing for getting the platform improved and better visibility."

I've heard similar stories from both sides of the coin. Several developers within the community have had nothing but positive things to say about the Microsoft employees who are assigned to engage with Indie Games, but it's the act of getting changes made, changes that require a thumbs-up from above those people, that causes issues. Microsoft employees I've spoken with expressed frustration with how long it can take to get anything approved.

Like Boyd said, it's just a low priority, and it's unlikely that will change anytime soon.

The latest Penny Arcade game looks so much different because the developer changed. The first two were made by Hothead, who went on to make the DeathSpank games with Ron Gilbert.
The latest Penny Arcade game looks so much different because the developer changed. The first two were made by Hothead, who went on to make the DeathSpank games with Ron Gilbert.

Reservations and all, it's hard to imagine Zeboyd being in its current position without Indie Games. When Zeboyd began the approval process to appear on Valve's Steam service, it was able to point towards sales data and reviews that were a direct result of being part of a console ecosystem, which by default raises a game's overall visibility.

"It was great for us, in that it gave us a platform to put our games that had good visibility, compared to staking it on some random website," said Boyd. "And I’m sure that [was] a huge part of the reason why Steam agreed to work with us in the first place."

A key difference between Steam and Indie Games is curation. There are thousands of games available on Steam, but they're present because Valve said it was okay. That's not the case on Indie Games, where anything can be published so long as it's playing within Microsoft's guidelines.

"I think the platform’s really gotten a reputation for being filled with a lot of 'my first programming' projects, which, I mean, are good--everybody has to start somewhere," said Boyd. "But it’s not necessarily good for improving the reputation of the service, and getting people to check into it on a regular basis."

As a result, there just aren't many people making money on the platform. Unless you're, say, a variation on Minecraft like FortressCraft, and you've sold a million copies. Games like FortressCraft are, sadly, an outlier.

Episode 3 may represent the most high-profile release for Indie Games yet. The move should raise some red flags for Microsoft, who ought to wonder why a developer would actively want to go around its premiere service. Microsoft's ahead of the game because it was smart about digital early on, but soon enough, the industry will hit reboot.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

74 Comments

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ralphredimix

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Edited By ralphredimix

Developers, Developers, Developers, DEVELOPERS!!!

Developers *clap*, Developers *clap*, Developers *clap*, DEVELOPERS!!!

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urban_ryoga

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Edited By urban_ryoga

@BionicRadd: You don't need to play the earlier episodes. It kinda helps, but isn't a necessity. They nod to references to past games as needed. If you wanna try the earlier episodes out, the combo pack of one and two are only $3 on steam.

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WilliamRLBaker

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Edited By WilliamRLBaker

@mrpandaman said:

@MordeaniisChaos said:

I think this is ignoring the real issue, acting like XBLIG needs to be improved, when it's Arcade that needs to be more evolved. XBLA is awesome, but it has a lot of issues that came from it's overwhelming popularity. I don't think MS recognized or realized how huge XBLA was going to be for them and as a result they weren't planning for the kind of problems we are seeing now. Leave Indie as a weird quirky place for first timers to post their stuff, and make XBLA more friendly to indie developers and more flexible about releases. I understand the desire to keep a steady supply of games coming out regularly, but at this point that's not an issue they need to worry about, and they don't have to ration out the releases as much as they do. Rather just make it so until the slots are filled devs need to stick to them, but if the slots are all full near their planned release, they have more flexibility. Or encourage the slots to be filled by exclusives instead of multi-platform games that have to deal with mutliple places launching, and the potential clusterfuck of lining things up.

Another reason why some indie developers have not opted in to releasing on XBLA is not only the time slot, it's the very rigid TCR which some developers have complained immensely about. They have said some of it makes sense, but some end up taking way too much development time. MS needs to make XBLA a lot more flexible, encouraging indie game development rather stonewalling it. XBLA does not seem to have grown as much as it should have especially when you compare it to PSN which started far behind, but is now almost caught up if not surpassing XBLA.

If psn has surpassed xbla then I'm currently having relations with a hat.

and every one knows how I hate hats.

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dropabombonit

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Edited By dropabombonit

Great article. This is why I have always liked PSN better. seems easier for someone without a publisher to get their game on the service

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Mars_Cleric

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Edited By Mars_Cleric

living in Australia I can't buy Xbox indie games so I guess I won't get it there then

but I still might check this out, I loved Zeboyd's other games

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Tordah

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Edited By Tordah

What's this Xbox Live Indie Games thing? Oh right, it's the service that's not available in my country (and probably never will be?).

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mrpandaman

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Edited By mrpandaman
@WilliamRLBaker In terms of games, I'd give Psn an edge over Xbla
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Corvak

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Edited By Corvak

Another in a long line of indie games that, while XBLA will get more media coverage, will make its money on Steam. The best example is Super Meat Boy, which made more from a week on Steam (at a discounted price, even) than months on XBLA.

I don't know the numbers or what Valve's "cut" is compared to what Microsoft takes in from XBLA, but whatever they're doing, it seems that at least the indie developers on the platform are selling plenty of games.

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ptc

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Edited By ptc

@Lugixx said:

DAMN IT PATRICK, IT'S SPELLED CTHULHU. WHY CAN YOU NEVER GET THE IMPORTANT STUFF RIGHT

On another note: It's nice to see a (moderately) high profile game released on XBLIG, since they're are some truly fantastic games on there. Hopefully this make more people aware of the service, and maybe we will even see some new talent breaking in to the industry because of it.

Yes, I'm way too optimistic. Shut up.

It would be nice to see the Doublefine kickstarter game relased on XBLIG as well, but I doubt that will ever happen. High profile releases on XBLIG will at least get more people to realize the service exists.

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ptc

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Edited By ptc

@Milpool said:

It would be great if Microsoft cleaned up their Indie service and turned it into something worth looking at on a regular basis.

I think they try to filter it a bit with the "Kotaku's picks" section (or whatever it's called), but the entire section really needs a revamp. Actually, acces to all downloadable games needs a revamp on the current dashboard. It's even hard to find XBLA games these days...

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BlueDude11

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Edited By BlueDude11

I was never really one for Penny Arcade, but the retro graphics seem intriguing!

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BPRJCTX

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Edited By BPRJCTX

Indie games?

Oh yeah, it's that thing that doesn't exist in Europe's XBL...

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sopachuco13

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Edited By sopachuco13

Plus, Microsoft's inability to give anything away for free has put it in the backseat. On Steam this game will release with the other two games this developer made for free while on Xbox, a developer doesn't usually have that kind of control.

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FoogleSmoogle

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Edited By FoogleSmoogle

I don't care either way. I'm totally over games trying to be faux retro and thinking it's in any way fresh.

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Synthballs

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Edited By Synthballs

@milsorgen said:

I tend to avoid releases on XBLIG due to the lack of achievements.

You're scum.

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GamingMasta

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Edited By GamingMasta

Releasing on the indie channel was a great idea that I wish more developers would try. I am going to have to download this game just to support the idea even though jrpgs aren't my thing

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supertyson

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Edited By supertyson

Loved the first two games, still on the fence about picking this one up when it hits Steam though. QL looked promising.

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Sary

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Edited By Sary

That really is a bit funny. Like they said in "Indie Game the Movie", these games seem to REALLY start booming once they arrive on Steam.

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jschlic

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Edited By jschlic

looks like you can play around a lot with the traditional system when you have such a huge folllwing behind your brand.

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DarthEnder

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Edited By DarthEnder

Look, I love retro SNES style as much as the next guy, but this game really doesn't feel up to the same level as the first two.

I think the largest, most inexcusable change though is...WHERE THE HELL AM *I*?!

In the first two games, I got to make my own character. The story was about me and my adventures with Gabe and Tycho!

In this game, I'm not in it at all! How dare you slay gods without me Gabe and Tycho!

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haychew21

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Edited By haychew21

Saw this when I was browsing indie games the other day, and I was wondering if it was a sham or the real thing.

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anern

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Edited By anern

Nowadays, the main characteristics which make the differences between arcade games and simulators are the lesser reality imitation, lower planning of the levels and task issues (for arcade) and the atmosphere that can be created throughout the amazement tools time stretching.

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Beb_Jobel

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Edited By Beb_Jobel

@DarthEnder said:

Look, I love retro SNES style as much as the next guy, but this game really doesn't feel up to the same level as the first two.

I think the largest, most inexcusable change though is...WHERE THE HELL AM *I*?!

In the first two games, I got to make my own character. The story was about me and my adventures with Gabe and Tycho!

In this game, I'm not in it at all! How dare you slay gods without me Gabe and Tycho!

From my perspective, at least, I never really cared for "me" in the PA games. I came along to see the dark exploits of clan Brahe and clan Gabriel. "I" was just a useful audience perspective tool. I was actually really happy to see that this game finally focused on the characters I cared about, instead of a stand-in for the player.

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Undeadpool

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Edited By Undeadpool

@MetalGearFlaccid said:

@DarthEnder said:

Look, I love retro SNES style as much as the next guy, but this game really doesn't feel up to the same level as the first two.

I think the largest, most inexcusable change though is...WHERE THE HELL AM *I*?!

In the first two games, I got to make my own character. The story was about me and my adventures with Gabe and Tycho!

In this game, I'm not in it at all! How dare you slay gods without me Gabe and Tycho!

From my perspective, at least, I never really cared for "me" in the PA games. I came along to see the dark exploits of clan Brahe and clan Gabriel. "I" was just a useful audience perspective tool. I was actually really happy to see that this game finally focused on the characters I cared about, instead of a stand-in for the player.

Also: they're releasing a piece of free DLC around PAX time that will address exactly what happened to *YOU*!! ALL HAIL ZEBOYD!!!