One of the biggest knocks against the Xbox One since it has launched is that there simply have not been enough exclusive titles. While Microsoft is likely going to have to agree with that assessment when they stop and look at what they've put out so far, it appears the company is going to interesting lengths in order to reverse that trend.
Chris Charla, who is the head of Microsoft’s indie games program ID@Xbox recently took to Twitter to explain there are more than 1,000 independent games currently in development
The good news for Xbox One users
If there really are 1,000 games currently being developed for ID@Xbox, then it seems as though sooner or later we're going to see quite the influx of independently developed games.
This program has long been thought of as a direct competitor to Steam's Greenlight program, but so far, it hasn't had the same kind of press. If there is a swath of games on the horizon, that press could change in a big way for the Xbox One soon.
The question now is just how good any of these games are going to be. Since the ID@Xbox program launched, there have been a number of independent games launched on Microsoft's platform. Those games simply haven't gotten the same kind of attention independent games that have launched on Steam have gotten so far.
The bad news for gamers
The lack of attention on ID@Xbox games appears to be a large part of the problem. It's not clear whether game reviewers have simply been ignoring the indie games offered up on the Xbox One, or whether the problem is that the Xbox games simply haven't been worthy of talking about.
If Charla is hyping a bunch of games few people will ever hear about and even fewer will ever play, this program isn't really going to fix the lack of exclusive games on the platform.
The fact of the matter is there are likely much, much less than 1,000 Xbox One games coming to the console in the next few years. That number is likely including titles that are barely out of the first stages. Charla has said they'll be showing off some of the better indie games at GDC so stay tuned to see if Microsoft can follow through.
