Xbox LIVE is a great way for small developers to sell their games to a large market. There is also a downside, as Fez developer Polytron discovered. The problem is that Microsoft allows games only a limited number of patches. After that, patches have to go through the long and expensive certification process. Small studios simply don’t have the time or money to deal with that. So if a patch has a bug, say, it corrupts saves sometimes, it becomes difficult for the studio to patch their patch. Which is why Polytron is pushing out a patch for Fez with the save bug in it. Fez is a popular game, which makes it possible this is a deliberate attempt to bring Microsoft to the negotiating table over the cost of patching. GamesIndustry has the story.
Microsoft doesn’t want defective games on their console, and they also don’t want developers pushing out patch after patch forever. Neither reflects well on their system. So that’s why they have the costly certification program in place; to force developers to make quality products and only push necessary patches.
On the developer side, bugs will happen, and patches can add new bugs. So then, the trick is finding a balance between the quality Microsoft needs and the freedom to fix issues that developers need. We’ll be seeing this fight for a while.