14 DAY TRIAL // The team at Microsoft in charge of the Xbox One wants to assure all gamers that the home console will be used as a development platform at some point in the near future, despite rumors that the feature was stripped that appeared earlier in the day.
Martin Fuller, who works at the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, stated during the Develop conference that the company no longer had plans to allow users to create their own gaming content on the platform.
He also said, "We were in the early stages of Xbox One looking at the idea of a retail kit that could be turned into a development kit, and vice versa. In the end, although that was a very admirable goal, it hasn’t happened unfortunately. Can’t tell you the specifics of exactly why not."
Since then, Kotaku has been contacted by a representative of the company, who said that the statements made were wrong and that plans were still being implemented about a full-game development capability.
Microsoft explains that "The comments today were inaccurate. We remain committed to ensuring the best possible solutions for developers and hobbyists to create games for Xbox One. We will share more details at a later date."
A change in policy would not have been a surprise given that the company has already decided to make a number of major U-turns linked to the Xbox One since it was announced, mainly on the topic of Digital Rights Management solutions and the inclusion of the Kinect motion-tracking system in the retail package.
The company has not offered any clear details about the way users will be able to use the next-gen console to create their own video games.
A limited developer mode is available at the moment on at least some of the devices, but Microsoft has warned gamers not to access it because it might lead to crashes and permanent problems.
At the moment, Microsoft is more concerned with the launch of the Xbox One on a number of secondary markets, including the Japanese one, which is set to take place in September and might give the product a much needed boost in terms of sales.
At the same time, the company is enticing Xbox 360 owners to upgrade to the next-gen device by offering them a 75-dollar (56-Euro) promo code which can be used to get access to games or entertainment content.