12 years ago
Downloadable games growing beyond their bytes
When Xbox Live Arcade launched in 2004 on Microsoft’s debut console, six titles well-known for their arcade roots appeared on the service at a fraction of retail cost. After Xbox Live Arcade re-launched on Xbox 360, the “Arcade” titles being released had a meager size limit of 50MB and retained the trend of being quick, shallow experiences. Today, some downloadable titles earn more critical attention than major blockbusters and may even reach Microsoft’s mandated size limit of 2GB.
“Now is an excellent time for high-quality, original, specific, relatively low-priced games, and I think this will continue for the foreseeable future,” said Greg Kasavin, writer and designer at SuperGiant Games. “Though it’s very difficult to make games, it’s never been easier due to the digital platforms and free tools out there these days.”
12 years ago
Bastion’s Greg Kasavin on the state of downloadable titles
We recently had the opportunity to talk at length with Greg Kasavin, writer and designer at SuperGiant Games about the state of the downloadable titles. Instead of focusing solely on Bastion, the team’s debut release, we spoke with Greg about why he chose independent game development as a career, his experience thus far with the Xbox Live service, as well as his plans for the future. Bastion is out now on XBLA and Steam and was the first title to be released in last year’s Summer of Arcade promotion.