LOS ANGELES: Microsoft Corp. is revealing a plan to motivate video gamers to turn to programmers. It is offering software tools to enable independent and hobbyist video game makers to develop game titles for the Xbox 360 console.
The new set of tools will be showcased at the two-day Gamefest video game development conference opening in Seattle Monday, according to the company. It hopes the tools to be popular among college students and hobbyists and thereby paving the way for generation of user-created content on the internet. The company is also intending to expand its web-connected Xbox Live online service through this option.
The tool kit, named XNA Game Studio Express, is easy to operate and users can create games that can run on Xbox 360 console or Windows-based personal computers. A test version of the kit will be made available by 30 August, the company said, and the final product should be in the market by the holiday season. It intends to have a subscription model and users will be charged $99 per year.
Some universities in the U.S. are expected to make XNA Game Studio Express and Xbox 360 development as part of their fall curricula, disclosed Microsoft. The company has signed up with 10 universities to use the new software as part of the curricula.
According to Peter Moore, vice president of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, people who create their games will own them and the company may consider revenue sharing arrangements with such developers.
Moore hoped the availability of easy-to-use programming tools will encourage independent game development at many levels, from garages to universities.
