Much has been made about the disappointing revamping of the Xbox Live dashboard when it comes to the treatment of indie games. Many developers wondered just how much support their games would receive with these changes, and now it appears that their worst fears are coming true. According to stats compiled by Hypership Out of Control developer Kris Steele, the indie games market on Xbox Live is shrinking.

In a discussion with Eurogamer, Steele said, “I do not believe the XBLIG market is growing.” Steele points to the disparate numbers between the original Hypership Out of Control and its sequel Hypership Still Out of Control as the biggest example of the shrinking market. “The original game was downloaded 374 more times the first day of release and 1506 more times over the first full week,” Steel said. “The first full week of Hypership Still Out of Control trial downloads was barely as much as the first day of Hypership Out of Control downloads.”

Steele also points to other examples within his own work, and the results are quite telling. Not only is the market apparently not expanding, but it’s also becoming increasingly harder to even find the games. When asked to comment, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that Microsoft provides the market, the tools, and the review system for these games, but it’s up to the developers to advertise themselves. The spokesperson added, “[Indie devleopers] have got to take that next step and do marketing after the launch. We encourage indie developers to work together and support each other in marketing efforts, like the Indie Games Winter and Summer Uprising promotions.”

What do you think? Are indie games on Xbox Live a dying breed? Does Microsoft have a point that it’s in the developer’s hands to promote the title?

SOURCE: Hypership developer: “XBLIG market isn’t growing” [Eurogamer]