Xbox 360 News: Microsoft No Longer Charging Recertification Fee For Patches On Games

Microsoft's insistence on charging developers for patches and updates to games has long been a throne in the side of many indie and smaller development companies.

After all, it is hard enough to bring a game to life, and even hard to afford to make the game right. Well now several sources have confirmed to Eurogamer that Microsoft is no longer charging companies to re-certify games after patching a game on the Xbox 360, saving developers of both digital-only and full blown blockbuster titles tens of thousands of dollars.

Originally, Microsoft would charge an initial certification fee when a game was submitted for release for the Xbox 360. Then, Microsoft would allow one free patch to the game if problems arose. After that, Microsoft charged developers another fee for each update after that.

This policy plagued Microsoft's reputation, especially with smaller companies who simply could not afford to pay for new patches to their games. Fez is the most infamous example of how this policy both negatively affected how a game operates and how damaging it could be to Microsoft's reputation. Sony and the digital distributor Steam do not charge for recertification.

It seems as though Microsoft has been reversing many of their controversial or unpopular policies as of late. In addition to this news, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One would no longer have the online check in and used game fee policies. It is unclear if Microsoft intends to have recertification fees attached to the Xbox One. Microsoft already confirmed that indie studios will not be able to self-publish on the Xbox One, so it is possible that they will bring back this policy for the Xbox One.

In either case, this may help boost the Xbox 360's digital library at the twilight of the console's life, and if Microsoft has done away with the policy for good it could help improve Microsoft's reputation among the indie developers that have become more and more important to the video game industry.