| mrstickball said: Good news! I've been saying for years that hardware companies (N, Sony, MS) need to start licensing various middlewares and giving them to developers that publish on their system, to speed up development time and reduce costs. IMO, how compelling would it be if a company that made a game exlusive for a system would get Havok, UE3, and a few other engines for their game? Either way, this is great news! |
I have a sneaky suspicion that M$ will become far more active in the development of IP content, to counter the consolidation of developers under the big 3 (look at what might happen with Mass Effect, vice Halo). Looking at the Wii, the first party content is what's driving profits at Nintendo to level of such magnitude...all the top games on the console are ALL first party. I think M$ is looking at the model, and figure while you don't necessarily have to DO the development, what you can do is to provide the tools and perhaps even some IP development assistance to have the developer design the gaming experience. It seriously cuts cost and risk for the developer and expedites the process of making game...or course it's a greater financial risk for the person providing the funds, but that's hardly a issue for M$.
"...You can't kill ideas with a sword, and you can't sink belief structures with a broadside. You defeat them by making them change..."
- From By Schism Rent Asunder
