Rumor Mill: Microsoft Closing Down Xbox Live Indie Games

An e-mail that was allegedly sent to a number of developers suggests that Microsoft might be getting ready to close down the service that supports the launch of indie titles on the Xbox Live Arcade service.

The message reads, according to The Official Xbox Magazine: “Presently the XNA Game Studio is not in active development and DirectX is no longer evolving as a technology. Given the status within each technology, further value and engagement cannot be offered to the MVP community.”

Apparently, Microsoft plans for the closure to take place on April 1 of next year, which might mean that the next home consoles from the company no longer include indie games support.

Microsoft has not commented on the content of the e-mails and it’s not currently clear whether the company has plans to create another service that supports the digital launch of smaller games.