According to publishing head Shannon Loftis, Microsoft is going to use Xbox Game Preview for early access to its first-party titles. During an interview, Loftis said that there was no question about it. Xbox Game Preview will indeed include Microsoft’s own games in the future. Loftis added, “I can’t make any announcements about first-party games we’re going to put in Preview, but typically at this point, given the way games development’s going, and the complexity of the systems, it is very important to us the consumer goes along with us the whole way. Game development itself has evolved in the last two, three, four years. It’s become far more community driven and far more incremental. This is a way to extend the beta experience and also support development a little in the process.”
Xbox One owners love the service and there’s a “mad rush” of developers asking Microsoft about it. Xbox Game Preview is like Steam Early Access on consoles. It allows developers to sell an in-development version of their game. However, Microsoft is more cautious than about letting just anyone in. Developers must demonstrate sufficient means to finish their title and must pass quality standards. A free trial is also available for each game so consumers can try out the title before making an informed decision whether to purchase it.
Source: VG247
Asher is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 1110 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: wrote over 1,100 ICXM pieces on Xbox news, hardware reviews, and platform commentary before joining Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017.