Square Enix got your back, indies.
The Japanese company became the latest major publisher has a major indie support infrastructure, showing its Square Enix Collective program at the start of its Electronic Entertainment Expo 2015 press conference this morning. It didn’t reveal much about the specifics of the initiative or the games it supports, but the official site does paint the picture of a feedback-centric cycle of fan voting for games they’d like to see put in full production. This would be in contrast to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Preview, announced during the platform-holder’s own E3 press conference, which focuses on play-testing of prerelease game builds.
The fan-voting also sounds like Valve’s Steam Greenlight program, where community members weigh in on what games should appear on the platform.
The Collective website describes the program as “[a] curated platform that enables creators to post ideas, and gamers to judge whether those ideas should become reality or not. If an idea is supported by the community, we may offer to support the project through crowdfunding as well, via Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Essentially, we’re trying to help small teams build awareness of their ideas, and ultimately self-publish – while retaining IP and full creative control.”
More information is on the official Square Enix Collective website. Sadly, the deadline to pitch the newest Gex game has already passed.