Microsoft Moves Indie Games Back To Games Section

With the launch of Kinect, Microsoft rolled out its new dashboard recently, raising the ire of many, especially its Indie developers, when the “Indie Games” section was moved from the “Games and Demos” area to “Speciality Shops” (along with misc categories like Avatar items). As a result, many Indie devs spoke out angrily, afraid that the move would dramatically affect sales, with some even going to so far as to suggest Microsoft was trying to “bury” Indie games from sight.

Microsoft countered by suggesting the move was intended to boost sales by placing Indies prominently alongside popular selling Avatar items, but many were left unconvinced.

Yesterday, however, it seems Microsoft has decided maybe the move was a bad idea, and have shuffled Indie Games back to the “Games and Demos” section of the Marketplace.

Several development blogs and forums who attempted to track the change in sales between last week and this noted as much as a 70% drop with the new dashboard placement.

Perhaps, due to these dramatically lower numbers (and the vociferous opinions of the indie community), Microsoft decided to make the change. Or, perhaps, they’re just afraid of Hitler’s wrath.

[Source: IndieGames.com]