Microsoft’s Robbie Bach talks XNA plans and Xbox 360 profitability

Sunday 06th May 2007, 07:06:00 AM, written by Farid

In a recent interview with eWeek, Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment & Devices Division of Microsoft, talked about the public reception to XNA, his company’s effort toward independent developers, and the problems Microsoft is facing in process of creating a viable publishing channel for the games created with XNA.

According to Bach, the XNA development kit has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and has had a lot of success not only with developers but also with universities, where it is being used to "teach people the fundamentals of game design, and probably in some cases also teaching the fundamentals of great design, period.”, he said.

Bach also discussed Microsoft's view of publishing independent games. It seems that Microsoft is still unsure of the best way to address the potential pitfalls associated with giving these games a wide release. Commercial Xbox games have to pass a certification process "to make sure games follow the conventions on the product, to make sure they're technically safe, that they're secure." Games created with XNA will have to meet additional standards regarding reuse of other companies' intellectual property to protect Microsoft from any liability.

Nonetheless, it seems clear that Microsoft is still committed to creating a secure and legal channel for indie developers to submit their creation in the hopes of being published by Microsoft: "You know, in the ideal world somebody would create an XNA game and ultimately become a sales leader on the Xbox Live Arcade. That's our kind of nirvana."

Another major topic discussed is the business plan of the Xbox division and the profitability. Bach described the current Xbox business plan as one spanning the lifetime of the product, where the total profits earned by the end of its life would make up for the losses endured during its first few years.

That two-phase business plan is about to make its first steps into phase two next year, Bach said. "It's a business that will be profitable next year--we'll make money next year and that will be the first time, whcih is pretty exciting." It's not entirely clear whether he is referring to the calendar year or the fiscal year. The Entertainment and Devices Division--home of the Xbox 360--reported a $315 million loss during Q3, reducing its operating losses by $87 million compared to a year ago.

± microsoft, bach, xna, xbox

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