XNA Game Studio 3.0 Arrives

The new XNA Game Studio 3.0 has arrived and you can download it now. This updated version of the toolset for hobbyist game developers is necessary for anyone wanting to submit their games to the upcoming Xbox LIVE Community Games section of the new Xbox Experience, launching November 19th. With the new Game Studio 3.0, indie developers can make games that can be shared with world on the Xbox 360, PC, or Zune. At launch time, there will be dozens of games available on the Xbox with prices starting at $2.50 and up.

The games created with XNA are created by independent developers and are then sent through a peer review process in the XNA Community. Other community members review the content of the game for appropriateness and rate it. The game is then approved (or not) to be deployed to Xboxes everywhere. Microsoft is not getting involved in the approval process, leaving everything up to the XNA community. The entire approval process from submission to Xbox deployment is only 48 hours.

Just because these games are made by professionals, don’t be fooled into thinking they’re going to be simplistic or kids games. Although, sure, there are some Pong clones, there are also feature-rich games that rival anything the pros build. Take for example, “Coliseum,” a game built by a team of 12 indie developers which features rich graphics and a great in-game play experience. You can hear some more about this game and the upcoming Community Games channel in this interview with XNA Community Manager, Kathleen Sanders, embedded below:

Xbox LIVE Community Games