ZP2KX
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XBLIG facts: Nazi-killing a no-no, revenue a yes-yes
During the Xbox Live Indie Games panel at GDC, a who's who of XBLIG developers (James Silva, Nathan Fouts, Robert Boyd and Ian Stocker) talked about their experiences, successes and failures self-publishing on the service. Perhaps of more use to budding XBLIG developers are some facts about the service, including the revenue split between Microsoft and the developer, as well as some gameplay restrictions. For anyone who publishes an Xbox Live Indie Game, Microsoft takes 30 percent of the revenue, leaving 70 percent for the game maker. Even more interesting are some of the restrictions for games. James Silva of Ska Studios said it's impossible to have an XBLIG title where the player kills nazis, for example. "That's like an inherent human right that's been taken away from us," Silva said. "We grew up on killing Nazis." Silva then went on to provide an anecdote about a game concept he had, about a burly mountain man who hunts people, but it turns out XBLIG isn't murder-friendly, either. We've followed up with Microsoft for some more information on the guidelines of Xbox Live Indie Games.
Zombies and Pterodactyls 20XX (aka ZP2KX) is the latest Xbox Live Indie from Dishwasher dev
Dishwasher: Dead Samurai developer Ska Studios knows how to make a game stand out on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace; afterall, it's the same rule that applies to just about every successful video game in the history of the art form. Add zombies. Ska's Xbox Live Indie debut was I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 which, despite its humble origins and unique spelling, managed to sell 308K copies as of last August. At $1 a pop, after Microsoft's 30% cut, that leaves a healthy $215K – not a bad take for the one-person shop. For his Xbox Live Indie Games followup, Ska Studios' James Silva is playing fast and loose. Gone are the old days when it was as simple as making a game with zombies in it. That's just not enough anymore. Enter: Pterodactyls. Zombies and Pterodactyls 20XX (or, as they'd like you to abbreviate it, ZP2KX) appears to be a multiplayer-focused title with staples such as jetpacks, capture the flag, deadly rainbows and Africanized bee-ammunition. And like Z0MB1ES, ZP2KX will be just $1 when it's released next week during the indie-organized (and seasonally co-opted!) "Indie Games Winter Uprising." Full press and trailer after the break.%Gallery-108144%
