Microsoft in â??aggressive worldwide talent huntâ??

Microsoft is ramping up efforts to pour new indie talent into its indie and mobile games platforms.

The firm said it is “aggressively scouting talent worldwide” for both established and new developers.

“We work with some of the top studios in the world today, and we plan to continue those partnerships for a long time to come,” said Cherie Lutz, a senior business development manager at Microsoft Games Studios.

She added: “The fact that we’ve been able to bring indie games to a broader audience via Xbox LIVE and Windows Phone 7 is a big win for Microsoft, and it’s something we want to do more of.”

One key step in Microsoft’s plan was to meet with developers at this week’s Game Connection event in Lyon, France.

The firm has made it clear it is embracing new business opportunities that have come through the re-emerging indie games space.

The platform holder recently came under pressure from its own indie community for moving the Xbox Live Indie Games store to a more remote area on its dashboard – a move it quickly upturned following the outcry from developers.

The sudden, and fairly embarrassing, u-turn signalled how important Microsoft still considers its catalogue of indie games, which sell on Live for as little as 80 Microsoft points (£0.69).

Fuller indie studios have also thrived on the platform, with titles such as Limbo, Trials HD, Castle Crashers and Super Meat Boy raising the profiles of its creators.

“We also have a great track record of enabling our developer partners to realize their creative visions and ship great games that achieve both critical and commercial success, thanks in part to the development services and support provided by MGS,” said Saxs Persson, senior director of Xbox LIVE Arcade.

Microsoft says that its development platform, XNA Game Studio 4, makes it easy for studios to launch games on both Xbox and Widows Mobile “for maximum revenue potential”.