Microsoft Kicks Off E3 With Storm of Online Gaming Developments
- by Tameka Kee , July 12, 2007
Game developers like Eidos, Epic, and THQ have signed on to support Games for Windows-LIVE, with 12 new titles to be released for the 2007 holiday season (including the highly anticipated "Gears of War" and "Unreal Engine 3").
Sega had signed on as the first third-party developer to create titles for Games for Windows-LIVE in late June, and this new wave of developer collaboration bodes well for Microsoft's PC-based gaming network.
In addition, U.S. gamers on the Xbox LIVE network will now have access to a growing catalog of movies from The Walt Disney Studios, as titles from Disney subsidiaries like Touchstone and Miramax will be available for download through the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
Although Microsoft has come under fire from the gaming community because it charges for game add-ons, the company reported that the response to its on demand video offering has been stellar, with almost 10 million downloads of entertainment content since launching seven months ago.
"With the millions of Xbox 360 consoles in living rooms today with a direct, high-speed Internet connection, Xbox LIVE has really become a terrific device for the delivery of digital entertainment content," said Dan Cohen, executive vice president of pay television and interactive media for Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
Media companies such as Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks have made their content available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace since its inception, and the new Disney partnership underscores Microsoft's moves to expand the Xbox brand's target audience beyond "gamers."
"Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE Marketplace truly offer something for everyone of all ages, gender or personal taste," said Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president of the interactive entertainment business, entertainment and devices division.
Together, Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows-LIVE create a cross-platform online gaming network that reaches more than 6 million members across 25 countries--an attractive audience for in-game and around-game advertisers.
