Xbox boss promises more diversity and creativity through indie games

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has said he expects the indie scene to flourish on Xbox One and Xbox Live, despite plans to disallow self-publishing.

"I love indie games. Personally, that's where I'm playing a lot of games. I love the diversity of characters, stories and play styles," the Microsoft Studios corporate vice president told Polygon.

"We want to make the television screen a home for more content, diversity of business model, size of content. Look at 360 and our history investing in games like Braid, Limbo, Castle Crashers and Trials. I think the team has done a nice job of identifying small indie developers and bringing those games [to Xbox].

"Moving forward I think you're going to see more diversity in business models and price points and - most important to me - creativity."

Spencer also told the site that Microsoft has refined its certificaiton process to make it easier for indies to publish on Xbox platforms, and that it's actively working to woo Japanese developers.

Although it seems committed to its decision to disallow self-publishing - a move that hasn't gone down well with smaller developers - Microsoft recently revealed that it has plans for an indie support program.