Skip to main content

IS Microsoft moving away from indie games after killing the XNA indie gaming platform?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Xbox has changed. As a brand, as a gaming machine, as an online ecosystem for game makers to sell and grow their games, Microsoft has been slowly broadening the scope of what the word “Xbox” means. That being the case, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is sloughing off so many things once associated with the world of Xbox. Amongst those casualties is the XNA Game Studio Software, Microsoft’s platform for independent game development.

Recommended Videos

XNA and DirectX (DirectX is Microsoft’s now nearly 20-year-old suite of game development tools) developer lead, Promit Roy, reprinted an email distributed to a limited number of XNA developers and Microsoft employees confirming that XNA is no longer being worked on.

“Presently the XNA Game Studio is not in active development and DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology,” reads the email, “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.”

A Microsoft source later told Polygon that though XNA will no longer be updated, it will not stop supporting DirectX for both Windows and Xbox games. Another source speaking with Computer and Videogames, however, said that the death of XNA could ultimately lead to the end of Xbox Live Indie Games.

Microsoft’s relationship with independent video game developers has always been strained, especially on the Xbox 360 console. On the one hand, Microsoft has helped publish and promote the work of celebrated creators and their games, from The Behemoth’s Castle Crashers to Jonathan Blow’s Braid. At the same time, Microsoft’s myriad rules and fees for publishing titles on the Xbox Live Arcade are prohibitive to independent artists working on a limited budgets. Consider Phil Fish’s Fez, which will never receive a patch for a save-destroying bug because Microsoft would charge tens of thousands of dollars to recertify the game.

Some of the most critically acclaimed Xbox 360 games have been created using XNA, including Supergiant’s BastionFezDust: An Elysian Tail, and Ilomilo. We just gave an almost perfect score to 17-Bit’s XNA game Skulls of the Shogun. Microsoft knows full well that it must continue investing in indie game development, so the question now is: What will replace XNA?

Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
We played Tribeca Fest’s 2023 game selections and walked away amazed
A character overlooks a desert in Chants of Sennaar.

You'd think that after spending four days at Summer Game Fest playing dozens of games (including heavy-hitters like Mortal Kombat 1 and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown) that we'd be a little demoed-out. But nothing rejuvenates my excitement about video games more than playing innovative indies that are unlike anything I've ever seen before. That's exactly what this year's Tribeca Fest delivered this year, with seven eye-catching games that were playable at the festival.

This year's selections are a diverse bunch of games hailing from studios all around the world; the list included titles from Australia, Ecuador, and even Qatar. It isn't just their countries of origin that makes them stand out though. Each title on display this year is entirely unique, offering a wide range of play experiences that prove how much more ground there is to break within the medium.

Read more
You should play the year’s most beautiful game on Xbox Game Pass right now
Mimi paddles down a river in a kayak in Dordogne.

When I was a child, I hated Cape Cod. My parents would often spend a bulk of the summer there, which meant I did too -- until I was old enough to be left on my own. My frustrations about that routine came to a head one year when my parents said we were going to spend a full month on the Cape. I protested, saying that I didn’t want to waste so much of my summer away from my friends, but my requests were shot down. I remember the arguments clearly, but I’ve fully blocked out the actual month I spent there. It’s a lost memory in my most formative years.

Dordogne - Launch Trailer

Read more
Kill some time before Pikmin 4’s 2023 release with this excellent indie
A bunch of tiny creatures stand on a sunflower in Tinykin.

September's Nintendo Direct was filled with exciting announcements (especially if you're an RPG fan), but one left-field surprise especially caught players' attention: Pikmin 4 is officially in the works and it's coming out in 2023. It's a cause for celebration considering that Pikmin 3, the series' last mainline entry, came out in 2013.

Pikmin 4 – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch

Read more