NEWS - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Xbox Live Community Games Launching in Fall
More details on Microsoft’s efforts to "democratize" game development have surfaced at the company’s Seattle-based Gamefest 2008, taking place today and tomorrow.
Officially dubbed Xbox Live Community Games, the initiative allows members of the XNA Creators Club to create and sell games via Xbox Live, and partake in "up to" 70 percent of the total revenue generated by a game.
Microsoft said that Community Games allows the hobbyist game development community to take part, albeit in a small, independent way, in the multi-billion dollar industry.
Interactive Entertainment Business CTO and staunch XNA proponent Chris Satchell said such community-generated games will push the boundaries of creativity on Xbox 360.
"...This will no doubt act as an incentive for game creators to continue to develop the best, most innovative games for Xbox 360," he said in a statement.
The service launches this fall and has a beta underway. When it officially launches, Microsoft says the community-created games will effectively "double the size of the Xbox 360 videogame library." Including all retail and downloadable games, Microsoft expects over 1,000 Xbox 360 titles by year-end.
Community-created games are filtered through a "rigorous" peer-review system before being added to Xbox Live Marketplace. Creators will be able to choose how much to charge for their game, from 200 to 800 Microsoft points.
Source: http://www.edge-online.com/
