Thu, Jan 31, 2013 | 21:59 GMT

Microsoft XNA, Xbox Live Indie future under question – rumour

Emails allegedly sent to XNA developers suggest Microsoft may be phasing out the development environment behind Xbox Live Indie Games.

“Presently the XNA Game Studio is not in active development and DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology,” a message reportedly sent to XNA developers said.

“Given the status within each technology, further value and engagement cannot be offered to the MVP community. As a result, effective April 1, 2014 XNA/DirectX will be fully retired from the MVP Award Program.”

The email was posted on the personal blog of Action Equals Reaction staffer Promit Roy. If genuine, the email suggests Microsoft has given up developing both platforms.

Microsoft hasn’t commented on the emails, and some of CVG‘s sources said they hadn’t received any such communication.

Industry insiders have reacted to the news by suggesting that Xbox Live Indie Games, which showcases XNA-developed titles, will not feature on the next Xbox console service. Although the indie storefront will be mourned, developers don’t seem very concerned about the loss of XNA itself – as long as something better replaces it.

Thanks, OXM.

13 comment-trail-alt Posted in: Development, Microsoft, PC, Rumour, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, indie
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13 comments

#1

SlayerGT
31/01/13, 10:19 pm

I think most saw this coming. Its obvious where MS interests are.

#2

monkeygourmet
31/01/13, 10:45 pm

Would be a shame. There were some great games on the Indie channel, lots of awful shit too, but it was worth keeping for next gen.

If this happens, I hope Nintendo really pick up the pace with higher qualityIndie offerings on the Wii U.

#3

aseddon130
31/01/13, 10:49 pm

no point having this now that actual Minecraft is out and Terraria is coming.

I have literally never looked at the Indie Games, they all seemed like garbage to me.

#4

freedoms_stain
31/01/13, 10:53 pm

Go buy “I Made A Game With Zombies In It” from the Xbox Live Indie section.

Best buck you ever spent.

#5

absolutezero
31/01/13, 10:54 pm

It needed moderation. Preferably self moderation, not knowing anything about the games apart from the front covers and having to click on them in order to find out more was horrible decision. Not being able to just get rid of Avatar related shit or the outright disgusting Silver Dollar Games releases.

@4 2nd. Also Zombies on teh Phone.

#6

monkeygourmet
31/01/13, 11:15 pm

Miner dig deep was good too

#7

Talkar
31/01/13, 11:30 pm

I wouldn’t really mind if XNA went away, it gives way too many would be game devs the illusion of being AAA game devs…
But i would take this supposed email with a pinch of salt, not only does the article title say it is a rumor, but i have a hard time seeing how MS would say “DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology”. I’m pretty sure that the next Xbox from them will utilize DirectX like the 360 does, and considering DX is still (unfortunately) far more popular than say OpenGL then i can’t really see why they wouldn’t want to further evolve DX.

#8

SplatteredHouse
01/02/13, 2:03 am

“DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology”…Not difficult to believe, really. I don’t think usage of DX11 is that widespread, so maybe it is no longer making returns for them to develop further. Also, if the potential audience decreases consistently, that can also cause them to rethink whether it’s a good idea.

“retired from the MVP Award Program”…Isn’t the MVP program some sort of selected participation, positive reinforcement thing, where, in exchange for not being an idiot on Live, and/or engaging in tireless evangelism on behalf of Xbox; it is said that the Chosen are offered the chance to ascend to a place in a theater in Los Angeles, where once a year, they may expectantly stare at either a giant plasma or, alternatively, a Microsoft executive’s feet. Either way, I wasn’t aware that MVPs got free admittance to the XNA developer club – but, maybe they do.

#9

Silver Dollar Games
01/02/13, 9:42 pm

Thanks to XNA we were able to win two Dream.Build.Play contests, become a finalist twice, make this game http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMmsdJn8cqQ and give absolutezero something to write about.

#10

OlderGamer
01/02/13, 10:59 pm

Miner Dig Deep is a XBLA/PSN/WiiWare/Steam worthy game.

I Made a game with Zombies in it is great too, along with several hand fulls of games. The problem, as AZ said, was the shear amount of trash also out there. The gems get burried.

But to say that they all are garbage, not even close. Too many gems to list tbh.

#11

Psychotext
01/02/13, 11:25 pm

XBLIG was a fantastic idea but it wasn’t supported as well as it should have been. Such a shame.

#12

monkeygourmet
01/02/13, 11:29 pm

What they want is a channel where the best Indie type games can go on, the more polished ones…

They can call it; Xbox Live Arcade or something… Wait a minute! o_O

#13

SplatteredHouse
02/02/13, 1:25 am

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/185894/Its_official_XNA_is_dead.php#.UQxnwWdKTEs Microsoft source issues more positive statement to Polygon on DirectX, as well.

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