Last week we told you that Peter Moore, VP of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, said that the gaming world needed to do more to get smaller developers involved. Today Microsoft will announce one way they plan to do exactly that.
What if anyone could design games and then sell them on Xbox Live Arcade? What if those same games also ran on Windows? Now, imagine being able to cook up a game despite not being a professional developer? Sound too good to be true?
It may very well be, but today at Gamefest 2006 Microsoft will announce an ambitious plan to try and make this a reality. On August 30, the company will release a new Windows application dubbed XNA Game Studio Express (beta), which according to Microsoft "will democratize game development by delivering the necessary tools to hobbyists, students, indie developers and studios alike to help them bring their creative game ideas to life while nurturing game development talent, collaboration and sharing that will benefit the entire industry."
XNA (Xbox/DirectX New Generation Architecture) is a development framework that extends existing DirectX tools with a set of new libraries and a custom implementation of the .NET development framework. Game developers can write code in the C# language and create games that will run on both Windows PCs and the Xbox 360 console. But what if you're not a C# guru?
Dave Mitchell, Director of Marketing for Microsoft's Game Developer Group, told Ars Technica that despite the successes seen with Counterstrike and other great examples of hobbyist development, it is still too difficult for the average gamer to get involved. To this end, Game Studio Express will not only expose low-level XNA gaming APIs for ground-up development, the application will also include a number of "starter kits" that can be adapted for quicker development. These kits will provide various genres and game types from which new creations can be developed. While Game Studio Express will be most powerful for people with scripting capabilities, it is not required. Calling it a "YouTube for games," Mitchell said that he believed that putting the creative power in the hands of users will lead to great things.
Just as important, Mitchell stressed the application's benefits for commercial developers as well. GarageGames, he reported, was able to port Marble Blast Ultra to the new framework in just two weeks. Now the game runs on both Windows and the Xbox 360 using the same code. "Write once, get two platforms," he noted.
The application will also be pushed in academic environments. At the collegiate level, Microsoft is pushing to get tools such as Game Studio Express in front of both computer science students and those in the fine arts. This fall, ten colleges will incorporate Game Studio Express into their curricula. Microsoft is also hoping to stir interest at the high-school level.
XNA Game Studio Express will be free for Windows users to download and experiment with, but an additional "creators club" membership ($99 yearly) is required to build, test and share games on the Xbox 360 with other users. The subscription will also include access to special developer materials.
Going pro
If it just so happens that you're the next John Carmack, you may be in luck. Microsoft will release a professional version of Game Studio this spring that will not only support development, but will also allow users to sell their games on Xbox Live Arcade, on disc, or on Windows. While commercial developers may initially be the ones most attracted to Game Studio Professional, Microsoft's game plan (pun intended) clearly includes stoking amateur development in an effort to broaden the creative landscape and possibly bring some new commercial competition to the floor.
Pricing for the professional version has not been announced. The final version of Games Studio Express will be available this holiday season.
