Microsoft has released and made available for download the latest iteration of its gaming development solution designed to permit developers to build video games for Windows-based PCs, Xbox 360 consoles, but also Zune digital media player devices. XNA Game Studio 3.1 went live on the Microsoft Download Center on June 11, 2009, and is now up for grabs for free. According to the Redmond company, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3 are the supported operating systems for XNA Game Studio 3.1.

“This release is incremental to XNA Game Studio 3.0 and contains many new features, including avatars, Xbox LIVE Party support, and video as well as enhancements to existing features. For the full list of improvements in this release, see the “What’s New in XNA Game Studio 3.1” section of the documentation once you have installed the product,” revealed Rob Cameron, Microsoft industry evangelist.

With the delivery of XNA Game Studio 3.1, Microsoft now enables developers to enrich their games with animated Avatars, for both gamers and game characters. In addition, titles built with XNA Game Studio 3.1 will allow up to eight gamers to participate in group voice chat independent of the actual title that each user is playing. This is possible with the introduction of Xbox LIVE Party Support.

At the same time, the latest version of XNA Game Studio enables developers to expand the content available in their creations with the inclusion of videos. Microsoft also touted enhancements to the Audio API, the Content Pipeline and XACT3.

“If you are not sure what XNA is, XNA Game Studio enables hobbyists, academics, and independent game developers to easily create video games for Windows, Xbox 360, and the Zune digital media player by using optimized cross-platform gaming libraries based on the .NET Framework in the C# programming language,” Cameron added.

XNA Game Studio 3.1 is available for download here.