Microsoft Falls Behind On Xbox Development - FT
03 Apr 20:11
TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has fallen behind schedule in
shipments of a software development kit for its XBox game console, the
Financial Times reported in its Wednesday overseas edition.
The U.S. software giant told third-party game developers to expect the "Beta"
version of the development kit in March. But on Tuesday, Japanese and European
games groups said they were still waiting for the kit and Microsoft had told
them it did not know when it would be shipped, the business daily reported.
Software development kits are the tools designers use to tailor games to a
certain console. A hardware manufacturer will ship several versions of a kit as
it refines the console to help software designers launch titles at the same
time as the machine.
The delay, not Microsoft's first, is likely to fuel concerns about the
console's prospects. Although falling a few days behind schedule is unlikely to
force Microsoft to postpone XBox's launch, set for autumn, prolonged delays
could mean the group has less good third-party software available initially,
the FT reported.
Having attractive software at launch time is crucial for a new console. It is
particularly important for Microsoft, which will face tough competition in
Japan from Sony Corp.'s (SNE or 6758) PlayStation2 and Nintendo Co.'s (J.NTD or
7974) Gamecube.
Microsoft admitted the beta kit had been delayed, but said the console's
launch was still on schedule. "We have heard [from software developers] that
there is a delay with the beta kit, but development is continuing to use the
alpha kit [a less-sophisticated model shipped to developers last autumn]," it
said, as quoted by the FT.
One version of the alpha kit has been held up at customs, Microsoft said. But
it declined to identify reasons for the delay with beta, which is one of the
last versions of the kit to be shipped before the console is completed.
Microsoft has said there are 200 developers - including 70 based in Japan -
working on games for XBox. Industry executives attribute the broad support,
particularly in the U.S., to the ease of the software development kit in
comparison with other platforms such as PlayStation2.
Noriko Manabe, analyst at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), said that the
quality of the games displayed at last weekend's Tokyo Game Show suggested that
"the final tools are not out yet," adding that Microsoft will need to come up
with impressive games to convince people to buy XBox amid growing uncertainty
about the health of the Japanese economy, according to the FT.
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-03-01
08:11 PM |
