After years of struggle, indie games developer Xona Games of Yarmouth finally feels it is in a position of strength in the global market.

Xona, the product of twins Jason and Matthew Doucette, was recently honoured with first place in the Rogers Big Idea Contest, which brings with it an award of $20,000.

More importantly, the company has been accepted into Microsoft’s elite ID@Xbox program. Inclusion in this could give the Doucette brothers greater security as they work at bringing their vision to market.

The Doucettes have learned over the years that game development is a precarious business. They have been bounced from platforms, had their game rankings hacked so their main revenue stream was cut off and suffered several other disappointments. But the ID@Xbox program gives them the strongest presence they’ve had, allowing them to present their games on the latest Xbox gaming systems.

 “Now that we’re on ID@Xbox, we have more power than most publishers because we have the right to go on to Xbox One,” Matthew said in an interview.

He said joining the program gives Xona the same development kit that major studios use, meaning it can integrate its titles into the Xbox Live and Xbox Live Arcade options. And it grants the company access to some of the leading talent and executives within Microsoft.

It’s a huge advantage for a small company.

In spite of the bumps in the road, Xona has had its share of triumphs, developing games that have claimed top spot in league tables in both the United States and Japan.

The company became known to many in the startup community four years ago when it won the southern Nova Scotia region in the I-3 competition, which noted the company’s Decimation X series was the leading video game in its category in Japan.

The brothers have a fierce independent streak and are dedicated to producing their own vision for games rather than working for big game developers.

Matthew describes the games as “retro amped-up,” meaning they’re based on older games and require considerable skill to master. He’s proud that the games reward skillful players rather than just springing surprises that can end the game of even good players.

He said the reason the company has done so well in the Japanese market is that players there want games that require skill rather than mere chance — games that must be mastered.

In the coming year, Xona will work on getting its latest game before the public. It will join other Nova Scotia gaming companies at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month, where Nova Scotia Business Inc. will have a booth. This marks the fifth consecutive year Xona will attend.

And the company will work on getting out its next game.

 “If it succeeds, it could be 1,000 times more profitable than anything we’ve done before,” Matthew said.