XBLA Delisting - Developer Response Part 1 - Metanet Software

Over the past couple of weeks light has been shed on some new policies that Microsoft has begun to enforce upon the current Xbox Live Arcade marketplace - that if a game falls within a certain criteria, they will be eligible to be removed from the Live Arcade store.

While I've been quite adamant that this is not the correct direction to go with the live arcade service, I got in contact with as many different developers as possible, and see what they had to say about the new policies. I've been able to get several responses, and over the next week we'll be able to get a bit of insight into the developer mindset!

Mare Sheppard, one half of Metanet software

"Wow, that seems so extreme! It seems very unfair that the offending titles would be pulled entirely, regardless of their sales. Sure, they may be rated/reviewed poorly, but isn't that, realistically, entirely subjective? And, a conversion rate of 6% is still admirable, isn't it?"

Raigan Burns, the other half of Metanet Software

"It really doesn't make any sense that they wouldn't just bump them to a lower-profile category.. deleting them outright is INSANE. Amazon stocks books with single-digit annual sales, and they have to deal with physical inventory! You'd think digital would be even cheaper to manage.."

"We both believe that a rating system would be a better solution to this problem. The system implemented on the Wii is working very well, for example, especially since it requires players to have played the game for a certain amount of time before they get to rate it. It's fair, and such an important feature. Cutting down the catalog is not an effective way to manage complexity; user ratings are."

Tune in during the week for more thoughts from Xbox Live Arcade developers, and how we can help the XBLA to reach its full potential.

Thanks to both Mare and Reigan for taking the time to respond to my query.