XNA Community Games pricing, marketing structure detailed

[Dan]

XNA Community Games pricing, marketing structure detailed Posted Jul 22nd 2008 4:00PM by Xav de Matos Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace Microsoft has revealed the marketing and pricing plans for its Xbox Live Community Games program, which is expected to launch in some public form this holiday season in North America and select European markets. Microsoft has set three tiers of pricing for XNA developed titles, games may cost 200MS points ($2.50) for titles 50MB or less and 400 ($5) or 800MS points ($10) for titles that weigh in at a maximum of 150MB. Microsoft is set to share up to 70% of profits from any XNA developed title. Microsoft has also revealed plans to help promote the more successful titles on the service. "If we help you sell an absolute ton of these, it's going to be up towards 30% [more of your total revenue]," Microsoft chief technology officer Chris Satchell told MTV Multiplayer. "If it's not doing so well, down towards 10%." As Shacknews described, developers who choose to distribute titles via the Xbox Live Marketplace will not be able to opt out of royalty-cutting promotions. Creators must first agree to a common set of terms when adding a game to the service and, According to Microsoft, "the majority of sales and revenue a creator earns will be generated by our promotions." Unfortunately, XNA Community Games will not include achievements and the service is structured so no game may be released for free, but we assume we'll see demos for each title. Tags: community-games, xna Source

XNA Community Games pricing, marketing structure detailed - Xbox 360 Fanboy

[IC3MAN]

Pricing .. just another thing that i don't wanna hear from Microsoft ..

[ssp0929]

This could be a steal. I mean the standard Arcade game costs about 400 MS points. If someone could make a really addicting game that takes little memory, we could be getting a steal. And if not, then well... too bad.

[xSTEVEO]

Originally Posted by IC3MAN Pricing .. just another thing that i don't wanna hear from Microsoft ..

community games should be free. the only games that should cost money are games that are officially published and developed through well known companies.

microsoft just takes advantage of its customers, by squeezing every last penny out of them.

[ssp0929]

Well. If you knew how to make your own games, it'd be free.

And since M$ is money-holic we can never expect anything to be free, whether its gamerpics, or community games. This doesn't surprise me.

[X3E Gravity Flux]

I don't have a problem paying for these games as long as I enjoy them. I was just told by that article how much the creators earn. It's helping people who want to break into the business get their feet wet...

[xSTEVEO]

Originally Posted by ssp0929 Well. If you knew how to make your own games, it'd be free. And since M$ is money-holic we can never expect anything to be free, whether its gamerpics, or community games. This doesn't surprise me.

maybe not now, but eventually they'll realize that its 2008, and they cant nickle and dime everyone for everything.

pictures, themes, and community games have always been free from other companies/services. i know that all themes on psn are free, you can even make your own for free.

online games were free, but when microsoft arrived they decided to charge for everything, offering a freebie every now and then, thats really not even worth it.

[Sgt ReD LiNe]

Who said you can't make your own theme on the 360?

[xSTEVEO]

Originally Posted by Sgt ReD LiNe Who said you can't make your own theme on the 360?

a few blade backgrounds with preinstalled trims. wow thats really customizable.

[Sgt ReD LiNe]

Originally Posted by xSTEVEO a few blade backgrounds with preinstalled trims. wow thats really customizable.

You made it seem like you couldn't do it at all ...

[ssp0929]

No, you make your own pictures and import them onto the dashboard. That's what I did. Of course, you can't put a specific picture on all 5 backgrounds, but you can still get a custom picture.

[IC3MAN]

Originally Posted by ssp0929 No, you make your own pictures and import them onto the dashboard. That's what I did. Of course, you can't put a specific picture on all 5 backgrounds, but you can still get a custom picture.

I tried to make my own background for each blade and found out that didn't work .. and looking at the same picture for each blade is just boring. Talk about limited customization.

[X3E Gravity Flux]

I haven't tried this yet but can't you make a slide show jpg and use that for your background?

[xSTEVEO]

i didnt know there were animated jpgs. i know there are animated gifs and pngs though.

but yeah i dont like how microsoft doesnt give enough options for the user. they make it seem like they do for a lot of non important stuff, but really they dont. i mean, you paid for the console and service, you might as well be able to use it all, no extra fees. we're not made of money like you microsoft!

[ssp0929]

Originally Posted by X3E Gravity Flux I haven't tried this yet but can't you make a slide show jpg and use that for your background?

It'd have to be a .gif. And Idk.