On Thursday, Taiwanese gaming site Game News Network (GNN) published what it claimed was a leaked list of third-party publishers for the next-generation Xbox. The list was impressive indeed, including such heavy hitters as Activision, Atari, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Konami, Majesco, Midway, Namco, Rockstar, THQ, and VU Games. It also included several companies that have already announced next-gen Xbox titles, including Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion), Eidos (Tomb Raider: Legend), and Ubisoft (King Kong, Ghost Recon 3, and Splinter Cell 4).

　　When presented with the list from the GNN article, Microsoft declined to comment. But today, the game giant sent out a press release announcing those publishers that will support the next-generation Xbox. The release revealed the same publishers featured on GNN. "Together, these publishers have sold more than half a billion copies of current-generation Xbox console video games worldwide and represent approximately 70 percent of all current-generation console games sold in 2004," read the document. The full list of publishers is featured below:

　　2KGames

　　Activision Inc.

　　Atari Inc.

　　Bandai Co. Ltd.

　　Bethesda Softworks LLC

　　Buena Vista Games Inc.

　　Capcom Co. Ltd.

　　Codemasters Software Company Ltd.

　　Eidos Inc.

　　Electronic Arts Inc.

　　FromSoftware Inc.

　　InterServ International

　　KOEI Co. Ltd.

　　Konami Corp.

　　LucasArts

　　Majesco Entertainment

　　Midway Games Inc.

　　Namco Ltd.

　　Phantagram Co. Ltd.

　　Rockstar Games

　　SCi Games Ltd.

　　SEGA

　　Tecmo Ltd.

　　THQ Inc.

　　TWP Corp.

　　Ubisoft Entertainment

　　Vivendi Universal Games Inc.

　　In addition to listing the publishers, Microsoft also listed the high-profile developers currently working on games for the next Xbox. Curiously missing from the developer list is Valve Software, which is widely believed to be working on current- and/or next-generation Xbox versions of its PC smash hit, Half-Life 2. The full list, which was also in the GNN story, contained the following companies:

　　BioWare Corp.

　　Bizarre Creations Ltd.

　　Bungie Studios

　　Epic Games Inc.

　　FASA Studio

　　Lionhead Studios Ltd.

　　Rare Ltd.

　　Game Republic Inc. (Yoshiki Okamoto)

　　Mistwalker (Hironobu Sakaguchi)

　　Q Entertainment Inc.(Tetsuya Mizuguchi)

　　Microsoft's release also reiterated the message delivered by corporate vice president and chief XNA architect J Allard at his GDC keynote in March. Namely, the next-generation Xbox will usher in the "HD Era" of gaming with its "high-definition graphics, extraordinary benefits of constant connectedness, and exceptional personalization abilities." Without getting specific, Microsoft also said the next Xbox will feature "multichannel audio fidelity," "richer online communication" (most likely the video messaging shown at last year's E3), and an "abundance of on-demand content delivered by the Microsoft Xbox Live service."

　　For readers who still had not gotten its point, Micorsoft also featured a passel of quotes from publishing executives. To a person, they praised the forthcoming platform, and divulged a few details in the process. Among them were:

　　--Activision, Atari, Bandai, Buena Vista, Capcom, Codemasters, EA, Konami, and Midway are all working on multiple titles for the console.

　　--Sega is bringing Sonic the Hedgehog and other games from its "stable of popular franchises" to the platform.

　　--One or more of Rockstar Games' internal studios--either Rockstar San Diego (Midnight Club), Rockstar North (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), or Rockstar Vancouver (currently working on "original action titles")--is developing games for the platform. (Rockstar Leeds is a developer for handheld platforms.)

　　--Massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer/publisher Webzen is working on a game that will take advantage of the next version of Xbox Live's "stable service and online capabilities." Recently, the company announced APB, a crime-based MMORPG from Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones.

　　Also Tucked away in Microsoft's announcement was word of Microsoft's plans for forthcoming titles for the current-generation Xbox. Near the end of the statement, Microsoft states that it is "fully committed to this generation," and that Xbox owners can expect new titles into 2007.