Lee of Microsoft, who co-produced the game with Jordan Weisman, said his company was already working on a new game incorporating the spirit of teamwork and the complex interactivity that have been crucial to the success of the A.I. game. The game will be "tied with a Microsoft franchise," he said.
Lee's team is part of the research group for Microsoft's Xbox game console, which is scheduled for release in November and will have online game-playing capabilities.
But how to turn a game like this into a money-making venture? After all, part of the A.I. game's appeal is its anti-marketing stance and the community spirit generated by the Cloudmakers.org crew -- attributes that would be hard to replicate in a more blatantly commercial product. And then there is the fact that the game is free.
Lee said there were ways other than the obvious subscription model that these games could bring in revenue. He said Microsoft was talking to other companies that might be willing to pay to make their products or sites part of the game and thinking about "what those players' attention is worth to other companies."
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