Over the last couple of console generations, digital storefronts have become a lot more open, operating a more freeform approach to game listings akin to something like Steam. This, in turn, has resulted in quite a bit more 'shovelware' appearing on console storefronts - and a new report from IGN looks into this issue, shining some positive light on Xbox in the process.
In short, Sony and Nintendo have been more lax when it comes to these low-quality titles appearing on their digital stores - the latter in particular during the Switch era. That's not to say that Xbox is immune from this phenomenon — enter, Mariostro Strikers — but it appears that a lot less seems to slip through the cracks on Microsoft's platform - something one developer backed up as part of the report:
"I think [Xbox] really puts a lot of effort into their service,
I would say they are tougher to launch on than something like [Epic Games Store] or Steam solely because they have pretty high standards for their pages and are very hands-on. In my experience, you work with their ID team directly to work through both your page and build cert. They will truly bend over backwards for you, even if you don’t see eye to eye."
The report adds that Microsoft "vets on a game-per-game basis" with its Xbox storefront, whereas the other major platform holders go through that process once per publisher, and then employ a more relaxed approval process for future releases. It's suggested that this goes a long way to eliminating this shovelware on Xbox - or 'eslop' as it's being referred to here.
The report is absolutely massive and definitely worth a read through, especially if you'd like learn a little bit more about the game certification process, alongside what other devs have to say about all of the major gaming storefronts. As users of all three major consoles (believe it or not), we definitely tend to see more 'spam' games on PSN and the Eshop, despite Microsoft not being totally immune from this problem.