Xbox Wants More Feedback From Devs, Including Why Some Are Avoiding The Platform

Image: Xbox Developer Direct 2024

We've seen a few stories this year about disgruntled developers who have struggled to bring their games to Xbox, as well as titles that have been skipping the platform, and it looks like Microsoft is taking steps to rectify this for the future.

Today, the company has expanded its Xbox Research initiative, which aims to listen to developers to gather feedback about how "future tools and services" could be improved for them. The program is summed up as follows:

"The objective is to listen to developer partners in the Xbox ecosystem and partner with product teams to bring forward insights and data that could help improve future tools and services. By directly engaging with game creators, Xbox aims to get the data that'll help address pain points and enhance the experience of partners across the spectrum of disciplines involved in bringing games to market."

"Xbox's new research initiative is an attempt toward a forward-thinking approach to supporting game creators. By turning their attention to the people behind the games, the Research team aims to foster an environment where developers of all sizes and backgrounds can thrive, ultimately leading to better experiences for players worldwide."

A lengthy explanation about this on the Microsoft website talks about how "player experiences" have always been a key focus of the Xbox Research initiative, but actually collecting feedback from developers has been less formal.

The idea, obviously, is to gather and implement the data from these devs as effectively as possible, and it's intended to affect everything from large studios to small independent developers. Interestingly, Team Xbox wants feedback from those who aren't currently shipping their games on Xbox as well, allowing for "fresh perspectives" in the process.

Here's what Dr. Deborah Hendersen, Principal User Researcher for Xbox, had to say about this today:

"If you are making video games, we're interested in hearing from you. If you aren't on Xbox, we'd love to know why. And honestly, if you are using our competitor's products, you probably have a great perspective we could learn from!"

"It's a bit like testing players who play games like yours – they are your target audience and you want to hear fresh perspectives because their expectations may differ from folks who are deep in your community."

Ultimately, it sounds like Microsoft has heard the noise from some of these disgruntled developers in 2024, and is taking very important steps to avoid a repeat in 2025 and beyond.

These cases have been few and far between, of course, but hopefully they'll be a thing of the past going forward!