Microsoft and Xbox had a lot to talk about over the past few days. Not only did Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and creator experience head Sarah Bond talk about empowering developers during a GDC Fireside Chat segment, but content curation and programs head Chris Charla also revealed some details about the ID@Xbox indie program. But it seems the company still has more to share about the program.
Besides sharing some interesting stats about how ID@Xbox has been performing, Charla also offered some insight into the revenue that the program has brought in for developers. "Since the program’s inception, independent developers have earned more than $2.5 billion in royalties and total revenue generated by ID@Xbox partners on Xbox almost doubled over the last three years. These are staggering numbers, and it speaks to the power of independent developers," he said.
Charla also mentioned that Microsoft has bigger plans for the program. "We’re proud that more than 4,600 developers from 94 countries worldwide are looking to deliver experiences to players via Xbox, including more than 1,000 creators who signed up to the ID@Xbox program over the last two years," he said. "Even with over 3,000 games from independent developers on Xbox, we still have a long way to go."
Elsewhere, Phil Spencer wanted to assure developers and players that video game sales are just as important to Xbox despite the meteoric rise to success seen by the Game Pass subscription service. "I often get asked by developers 'if I'm not in the subscription, am I just not viable on Xbox anymore?'. It's absolutely not true," said Spencer. "We look at retail; people selling games, buying games... it's an important part of our [profit and loss]."
"We look at this data over and over again...consistently, the engagement in a game when it goes into a subscription goes up eight times above where it was before, and members actually spend 50 percent more," added Bond. "It's really lowered the barrier for entry and created a whole new market and love for games and gaming experiences that otherwise wouldn't have existed."