Game Trial Functionality Returns to Xbox Marketplace

Change occurs as ID@Xbox program picks up steam.

Microsoft has never really made a name for itself as consumer friendly, but in the transition from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One, what minimal positive reputation the behemoth had garnered in that arena had more or less vanished. Now, picking up the pieces, fan-favorite features are slowly making a return. Next on that list are integrated game trials, once mandatory for Xbox Live Arcade titles but completely shuttered in the opening months of the Xbox One.

The difference between a trial and demo is important. Demos have been on the marketplace since launch, but they exist as a separate piece of software than the game they represent. Trials are segments of the original code, sectored off for free access in hopes that the player will simply unlock the whole game through purchase, no secondary (and lengthy) download required

Without a dedicated "Arcade" on the Xbox One marketplace, though, game trials will likely never be mandatory again. Even so, it's at least a step in the right direction that the console even supports them at all. Microsoft's ID@Xbox chief Chris Charla confirmed as much with Eurogamer.

"In the same way that we update the Xbox One OS every month, they update the development system every monght - or regularly, anyway. So that's something that we recently turned on. I don't think we've seen any ID@Xbox games yet that have shipped with trials, but we may well in the future. It's something that's open to everybody."

Charla basically runs Microsoft's new initiative to combat Sony's lead in the indie sector, seeking out independent developers to fill out the nuanced, smaller end of the Xbox One marketplace. Charla said he and his team are considering adding functionality within the marketplace to seek out the growing list of ID@Xbox games.

"There are literally hundreds of ID@Xbox games in development right now," he said.

Source: Eurogamer

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