Next-gen systems may allow developers to self-publish patches - rumor

Overkill Software's Simon Vikland has said he's heard around town that next-gen consoles will make it possible to self-publish patches, which if true, would be a boon for smaller development firms.

Speaking with OXM, Vikland said that while such news is technically "a rumor," he hopes it's the case because post-release support is very expensive on consoles.

"It surprised us how much we wanted to do after we'd finished the game, [because] on the PC we can do it for free - let's put it up there," he said. "It costs a lot of money to do that on consoles, and it's not up to us, unfortunately - we're not made of money.

"So we thought, let's wait until we have enough changes and then we can pay that cost and put the patch out there on PS3."

Vikland said console manufacturers designed systems that way in order to maintain control, something he understands, but would still prefer the self-publishing route.

"That's how first-party designed it, and I've heard stories that for the next generation, they're making it possible to self-publish patches," he said. "That's a rumour. And that would be nice.

"At the same time I understand why first-party wants to keep control of everything - they want to play-test, they want to make sure that it doesn't crash. Because that's the whole idea of a console - it's for the casual gamer, it works all the time."

Overkill is currently working on Payday 2, which is slated for release sometime this year.