Microsoft Will Slowly Open Up Game Development to Xbox Users
Posted on August 31, 2006
Microsoft has recently announced plans to slowly open up Xbox game development to Xbox users. The game development will initially begin as a "creators club" that Xbox users who want to develop games will have to pay $99 to join. Eventually, Microsoft will offer developer tools for free.
CNET reports that Microsoft wants to build a community in the future where anyone can publish games. This would be several years from today. The community would help determine which games are popular and which games are destined to flop.
CNET says, "That would mark a major shift in the gaming world. While people have long been able to create their own PC software, console game titles have historically been created by a far more limited set of developers.
Microsoft released the public beta of XNA Game Studio Express yesterday. The website can be found here and a faq can be found here.
