User-Made Games Will Make it to Xbox Live

by Rob Walker | July 22, 2008 at 11:58 am

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I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this sort of thing, but right now Microsoft is the only gaming console offering users the chance to put their own games online - and keep most of the profits.

With the market penetration Microsoft has (they sold over 500 million items over the Xbox live marketplace) I'm sure this will be a big hit, and Microsoft is saying users will be able to keep up of 70 per cent of the profits from the sale of their game.

It will cost developers $100 a year to get into the XNA Creator's Club, which gets them shelf space on the marketplace. There will be a peer-review system that keeps track of the games popularity.

Microsoft offered up a few more details on Tuesday about its upcoming online video game marketplace for aspiring game developers.
Originally announced in February, Microsoft will allow user-generated games to be sold on its Xbox Live service this fall. On Tuesday, the company said it will let the developers keep up to 70 percent of the revenue generated by their games.

The scenario is similar to Apple's App Store, which sells applications for the iPhone created by developers that pay a fee to put their creations for sale in the online store.