Ever want to create a game for Xbox Live and make real money? Microsoft is opening the doors to the multibillion-dollar console gaming industry.
by James Brightman on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
At its Gamefest 2008 keynote in Seattle today Microsoft went into further detail on its previously revealed plans to "democratize game development." The company's Xbox Live Community Games initiative, which launches for consumers to try out this fall, essentially opens up Xbox Live as a marketplace to members of the XNA Creators Club who can create, sell and share in the profits generated by their games.
Up until today, Microsoft had refused to discuss the finer details of the business model behind its community games. However, now we see that developers will be able to keep a sizable chunk of sales. "Community games that have been submitted by XNA Creators Club Premium members and have successfully passed a rigorous peer-review system will be added to the Xbox Live Marketplace catalog for sale to consumers. Creators will be able to choose from three suggested preset retail price points varying from 200 to 800 Microsoft Points to sell their creations and will receive up to 70 percent of the total revenue generated by their game," Microsoft explained.
"...we're creating an opportunity for aspiring developers to start their careers on the world stage."
Chris Satchell, who was just promoted to Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business Group, said the business model was conceived in order to "create the best possible experience for both consumers and developers."
"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," Satchell said. "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."
Microsoft said that it expects community-created games on Xbox Live to double the size of the Xbox 360 video game library and that by the end of this year "Xbox 360 owners are expected to have access to the largest, most creatively diverse game library across all next-generation platforms, with more than 1,000 titles spanning Community Games, Xbox Live Arcade and retail blockbuster titles."
When Community Games launches later this year (and in other regions throughout '09) consumers will be able to view and rate community games on Xbox.com, watch trailers, and play a trial of each game before deciding to buy it or not.
Microsoft is very encouraged by the response they've had so far to their Community Games project and the company is quite bullish on its future. "Since first launching XNA Game Studio in 2006, we have been working hard on improving the toolset and building resources for the community, and the response has been amazing. To date, we've had more than 1 million downloads of XNA Game Studio and adoption in more than 700 universities," said Boyd Multerer, general manager of XNA. "For some perspective, the incredible creative community we've unleashed worldwide is more than 25 times the number of professional developers in the industry."
To build further buzz around Community Games and to drive interest from aspiring developers, Microsoft is also holding a second annual Dream-Build-Play contest, which will yield prizes in excess of $70,000 and an opportunity for one of the winners to sign an Xbox Live Arcade publishing contract (full details and rules here).
via GameDaily
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