Microsoft Open XNA

In 2004, the game Full Spectrum Warrior for the Xbox was published. It was a long and difficult collaboration between the Army, game developers, and Microsoft. With the exception of this game, consoles have been off-limits to serious game developers. The expensive development platforms and licensing agreements focused on games with broad appeal that would be sold in the millions of copies. However, Microsoft has made significant changes to its development model. It is now possible to develop for the Xbox360 without a specialized computer. Microsoft has also just opened up its Xbox Live service so that any independent developer can create a game and get it distributed as a software download through this online service. Potentially, this may open up the console for serious games in military training. These downloadable games will be reviewed by a committee to determine whether they violate any IP or contain objectionable content. If cleared, then they will be posted on Xbox Live for customer purchase and download. This could become an avenue for serious games distribution as well.

Microsoft XNA for Serious Games

Microsoft recognized that it was difficult for game studios to create both a PC and an Xbox version of every game. So they created the XNA Framework which allows a team to create a single code base that can be compiled for either the PC or the Xbox without changes to the code. The framework provides a great deal of the functionality needed for a game (similar to a game engine, but not the same breadth of capabilities). Microsoft has released all of this code to the public so that it can be downloaded and used by anyone to create a game (specifically first-person shooters and real-time strategy games). The games developed by amateur users can be compiled to run on either the PC or the Xbox and is an effective way to turning every aspiring game programmer into an Xbox developer – similar to the approach that they took in promoting DirectX over OpenGL ten years ago. Potentially, a serious game developer for the Army could use the XNA Framework to create a military game that is ready for either the PC or Xbox. We have not seen any defense contractors working with XNA yet. However, in order for the game to run on the Xbox, the developer must get a licensing code from Microsoft. Currently, Microsoft has made it clear that they intend to give such licenses to games that fit well into their Xbox Live (online) family of games. They are not interested in seeing XNA used to create serious games, though that might change in the future.