Scottish company YoYo Games has added support for Microsoft’s Xbox One to GameMaker: Studio, and will let developers write games that can be exported to run on that console as well as all current Windows versions.
YoYo’s cross-platform development tool lets users write games in a single code base and then publish them to run natively across a number of different smartphones, tablets, PCs and consoles. It has also enhanced functionality for Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1.
Having YoYo add support for the company’s latest console is good news for Microsoft. Developers will be attracted to writing for the Xbox One console, and then hopefully can be convinced to publish their games for Windows Phone, which needs more apps to be able to better compete with smartphones running Android or iOS.
The GameMaker: Studio export feature for Xbox One will be available in the fourth quarter to members of Microsoft’s licensed Xbox developer programs, including ID@Xbox.
GameMaker is available in three different versions: Standard, Professional and Master Collection. The Standard version is free, but has very limited functionality. The Professional and the Master Collection cost from US$99.99 and $799.99, respectively.
The main difference between the two versions is that all the platform export features are included with the Master Collection, while developers who buy the Professional version have to pay extra to be able to publish games for Android, iOS and Windows Phone, for example.
The list of platforms for which Gamemaker can be used to develop games also includes Sony’s PlayStation consoles, Linux and Mac OS X. To date, GameMaker has been downloaded more than 5 million times, according to YoYo.