The day has finally arrived where Xbox gamers will no longer have to sift through pages upon pages of redundant content thanks to a new rule put in place by Microsoft, and I couldn’t be happier about it! Not only will Xbox users be happy about the banning of “Bundle spamming,” but developers that are constantly getting pushed to the bottom of the store page are certain to be thrilled with the change.
The Microsoft store has, for quite some time now, been filled with a tremendous amount of nearly identical game bundles. One of the biggest offenders has been the Resident Evil indie clone series Outbreak which has seen dozens of bundles over the last couple of years where every time a new game releases, they put out a new bundle; silver edition, gold edition, platinum edition, co-op bundle, single-player bundle, first-person bundle, classic bundle, detective bundle, etc., etc., and so forth. They even started bundling games that didn’t have anything to do with one another like a zombie game, an arcade game, a visual novel and a dinosaur game.
It’s wild how common this practice has become and how long it took Microsoft to listen to user feedback about these developers clogging up the proverbial pipes with their greedy ways, while often producing incredibly similar games by flipping assets and utilizing AI to save even more money and pump games out as quickly as possible. On top of that, they release Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions of the same games, add super simple achievements, and sell their games to people with crippling achievement addictions like me! Thankfully Microsoft has finally taken notice and is moving forward with new policies to prevent this type of behavior from developers going forward.
A recent Microsoft email sent to developers states:
“After an investigation, Microsoft has determined that bundles focusing on different platforms with undifferentiated content in an attempt to maximize digital shelf space are incompatible with Section 3 of the Developer Code of Conduct, as they confuse players and are an attempt to manipulate the search results for a game.“
“We will no longer enable bundles that contain different platform SKUs of the same game. Additionally, other attempts to manipulate the Store search results may result in bundles being delisted or not granted.”
The email also indicated that the changes will reduce confusion for players who have often sought refunds for purchasing titles multiple times due to these bundling practices, while also decluttering the storefront and limiting developer manipulation of shoppers.
True Achievements, the virtual home for achievement hunters, has released a detailed list of criteria regarding the changes that will be taking place soon.
- Bundles should not consist solely of different SKUs of the same game (e.g., Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox PC versions) unless there is meaningful differentiation in content
- Meaningful differentiation includes editions such as Standard, Deluxe, or Ultimate, where each provides unique or additional content, as well as cases where the distinct platform versions have notable differences, such as resolution or frame rate
- A single product with similar or minimally differentiated bundles taking up an excessive number of slots in new releases, search results, or other Store channels is not permitted
- Multiple product bundles in which the platform is the only thing unique between two bundles of the same content are not permitted
- Visual and content differentiation should be clear to avoid customer confusion and Store clutter
- Do not create bundles with the sole (or perceived) intent to manipulate discounting cooldown periods, search results, or other discovery mechanisms, or to manipulate in any way the operation of the Store
Sure bundles can be a solid way to get deals on games and their accompanying DLC, but the problem with bundle spamming is that unscrupulous developers will often include the same games the player already owns, but with a different SKU that makes it seem like a new title. Now, for some of the more forgetful or perhaps misled shoppers on the Xbox marketplace, this can be confusing and lead to duplicate purchases due to the mislabeled titles. Many developers have gamed the system in this way across many digital marketplaces and have promoted their games in dishonest and misleading ways to make an extra buck, and that’s bad news for gamers and honest dev studios who want to garner trust from their potential player base.
Regardless, I think this is a move in the right direction of Xbox, and if implemented correctly, this should help to not only streamline the search process but also protect consumers from false advertising and misleading sales. For achievement hunters that like to buy duplicates and stack gamerscore, maybe not, but as a true achievement hunter, that’s never been a practice I participated in, otherwise I’d be at like 3 million gamerscore by now. Either way, I’m excited to see this take effect and get a good look at how it cleans things up on the digital front.
