XNA 3.1 Released

For those who develop in XNA, you will want to head to the Creators Club website and download the newest version of XNA Game Studio, XNA GS 3.1.

Please note that if you are making a game for the Community Games service, you will only be able to submit a 3.1 game from July 23rd.

If you are entering Dream Build Play, ensure you convert to 3.1 as the competition requires it.

http://creators.xna.com/en-us/news/xnagamestudio3.1

New Features in 3.1:

• Avatars
• Video Playback
• Changed Audio API (SoundEffect class changes)
• XACT3 support, including xWMA compression
• Xbox LIVE Party support

For those interested, XNA GS will support both 3.0 and 3.1, and will offer the choice to upgrade to 3.1, so you can install this, try out an upgrade or a new project with the new features, and continue working on a 3.0 project until you are ready to upgrade. (Or if you wish to release to XBLCG soon, you may wish to not upgrade, but you can still install 3.1)

Remember that before 23 July, anything you submit to peer review or play testing needs to be 3.0, however after the 23rd you can upgrade.

3.1 XBLCG games will not be available for purchase until a future Xbox LIVE update.