March 8, 2005 - Yesterday, Microsoft announced a new developer tool at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. The new tool, XNA Studio, is based on its upcoming Visual Studio 2005 Team System, and will offer tools and utilities for asset management, defect tracking, project automation, and more. The tools is apparently intended for developers who want to build games for the upcoming Xbox2 console system.
"Software will be the single most important force in digital entertainment over the next decade. XNA underscores Microsoft's commitment to the game industry and our desire to work with partners to take the industry to the next level."
- Bill Gates, founder and chief software architect of Microsoft