The parity clause that forces independent developers to release games on Xbox at the same time as other platforms has caused a lot of discussion within the game community, and Microsoft Game Studio honcho Phil Spencer gave his take on it as part Kris Graft's fireside chat at the Game Developers Conference, reported on Gamasutra.

Spencer explained that the platform parity is about making sure that when they buy an Xbox players get "the best independent games, state-of-the-art and new."

That said, the clause doesn't come without problems, and he admits that some developers "can't afford to develop on both platforms simultaneously." As a consequence those that start on another platform may be locked out permanently.

It's quite obvious that Microsoft's best interest is to defend its own platforms, but we'll have to see if Spencer's awareness of the flaws of the clause will lead to changes in the future.