Bringing it up to speed in line for the release of Microsoft’s new operating system, Yoyo Games have released a patch allowing GameMaker: Studio to export games directly to the Windows 8 marketplace (where they’ll be vetted by Microsoft folk before appearing for sale). The patch will be applied to the Standard, Professional, and Master Collection editions of the software, so those of you who have been dabbling with the free edition won’t be able to make use of this update.
If the patch isn’t enough to push you into laying down money for one of the GameMaker releases, Yoyo Games and Microsoft are hoping to tempt you with $500. More on that below.
Yup, $500 is up for grabs for 24 plucky developers who submit their game to the Windows 8 marketplace before 8 December. The rules of the competition are outlined in full on Yoyo Games’ websitebut from all the submissions there are to be eight winners picked from the Americas, eight from the UK, and eight from elsewhere.
You can’t just submit any old thing though. Yoyo say that all the games must be implement”key Windows 8 features including Snap View, Live Tiles and Share functionality” and “are consumer friendly”. So no flying penises, you.
If you fancy getting in on this competition but haven’t used Game Maker before then lucky you: GameMaker has a free version that was recently released for Steam, you can even submit games to Steam Workshopwhile you’re at it.
Using Steam may bepreferablein the long run, our Tim didn’t get on with Windows 8at all.