Microsoft drops fees for updating Xbox 360 games
$40,000 charge for recertification gone as of April
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Microsoft no longer charges developers for title updates to Xbox 360 Arcade Games. Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb confirmed via Twitter that as of April 2013 the company stopped the fees, which notoriously led the creators of games like Fez and Iron Brigade to eschew updates.
Microsoft originally allowed XBLA developers one title update gratis, but stipulated a $40,000 fee for each recertification after that point. Eurogamer reports that Microsoft reserves the right to charge if a developer excessively resubmits its game. Its anonymous developer sources also say the elimination of fees extends to retail releases as well as XBLA.
Fez creator Phil Fish tweeted that he plans to get in touch with Microsoft to see if the change is retroactive. That could finally bring the original Xbox 360 version in line with the PC edition of Fez, which launched in May.
you have no idea how much trouble i got into for talking about this. and you never will. so im pretty glad there's a happy ending here.June 27, 2013
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar+.


