Indie Developer Abandons Xbox Port After 14-Month Nightmare Due to Bugs

In a shocking turn of events, Blingame, the indie developer behind the acclaimed Metroidvania game, HAAK, has decided to abandon the Xbox port of their game after dealing with a 14-month-long battle with Microsoft’s backend bugs. What should have been a straightforward two-week porting process became a prolonged nightmare, as the developer faced numerous obstacles within the Microsoft Partner Center.

Bugs and Frustration Force Developer to Cancel Xbox Release

HAAK, a side-scrolling action-platformer that has already garnered a positive rating on Steam and successfully launched on Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms, will not see an Xbox release. According to Blingame, the issues began during the account registration process, where numerous bugs in the Microsoft Partner Center blocked their progress. Even more frustrating was the fact that Microsoft’s support service was riddled with bugs, making it impossible to resolve the issues.

The developer tried to seek help from Microsoft’s indie program, ID@Xbox, but was met with disappointment as the program couldn’t resolve the problem. “What seemed like a simple procedure turned into a nightmare due to many bugs in the Microsoft Partner Center,” Blingame tweeted, expressing their frustration.

After 14 months of trying to navigate these technical hurdles and facing dwindling development funds, Blingame ultimately decided to abandon the Xbox port. “Although we very much want to share HAAK’s adventure with more players, our development funds are extremely tight, and we can’t afford to wait any longer,” the studio stated.

This situation highlights a significant issue within Microsoft’s ecosystem that could potentially discourage other indie developers from porting their games to Xbox in the future.