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Indies are scorching hot. Maybe it was Minecraft. Maybe it was Super Meat Boy. Maybe it was Journey. Either way, just weeks before the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One it is indie developers who find themselves - whether they like it or not - on the front line of the next generation battle.The first parties argue they've always loved independent developers, that their consoles have always made the small, quirky and strange welcome. This isn't entirely true. Microsoft made waves by publishing the likes of Braid and Limbo on Xbox 360, but its strict policies have driven some indies to despair. Nintendo's publishing policies for Wii and its Wii Shop Channel were at best baffling, and Sony, now the beacon of hope for indies the world over, well - when PlayStation 3 launched eight years ago things were very different.
At E3 2013 Microsoft said it was still not keen on allowing self-publishing for Xbox One - a decision that baffled indies. Then, at Gamescom in August, a surprise but welcome announcement: the ID@Xbox program. Headed up by former indie developer Chris Charla, ID@Xbox opened its doors the day it was unveiled, enticing developers to fill in a web form with the promise of two free dev kits and self-publishing-style policies.
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