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Microsoft Opens Xbox 360 To Outside Game Creators Microsoft Opens Xbox 360 To Outside Game Creators
By Mark Long
July 23, 2008 10:23AM

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Microsoft has opened its Xbox 360 to outside game developers with a goal of offering more choices than Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft plans to open Xbox LIVE Community Games later this year and is offering $70,000 in prizes to jump-start development of Xbox 360 games. Microsoft also announced that its Games for Windows - Live service is now free.
 



Microsoft Relevant Products/Services is opening the Xbox 360 to third-party software creators in a bold attempt to dramatically expand the number of games available on its platform. The goal is to give gaming aficionados far more choices than rivals Sony and Nintendo are offering.

Taking a page from the playbooks of social-networking Relevant Products/Services sites such as YouTube and Facebook, which have long provided custom software from third-party developers Relevant Products/Services, Microsoft said it will begin offering independently produced games to its Xbox Live community in advance of the holiday shopping season.

"Not only are we democratizing game development with Xbox LIVE Community Games later this year, but we're creating an opportunity for aspiring developers to start their careers on the world stage," said Chris Satchell, chief technology officer for Microsoft's interactive Relevant Products/Services entertainment business group.

Microsoft also announced that the multiplayer components of its Games for Windows Relevant Products/Services - Live service Relevant Products/Services are now free. And it said its next revision to its Direct X application framework will let developers use the graphics card as a parallel processor.

Innovative and Quirky

According to Satchell, independently created games that successfully navigate a rigorous community peer-review system Relevant Products/Services will be added to the Xbox Live Marketplace catalog for sale to consumers. "It is really a win for both developers and consumers because this will no doubt act as an incentive for game creators to continue to develop the best, most innovative games for Xbox 360," Satchell said.

Microsoft expects this autumn's launch of Xbox Live Community Games in the U.S., Canada and select European markets will double the size of the Xbox 360 video-game library to more than 1,000 titles. Moreover, the software giant is betting that accomplished gamers in search of new challenges will be enticed to try independently developed games, which are expected to be more inventive and quirky than those typically created for mass-market sales.

To jump-start the new effort, Microsoft is promoting a new Dream-Build-Play development program featuring cash prizes in excess of $70,000. The software giant also said it will be sharing up to 70 percent of the revenue with software developers who create games that make it through the peer-review process. The catch is that aspiring game creators must purchase a $99 membership in Microsoft's XNA Creator's Club to participate. (continued...)

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