Windows Phone will support native code, but only when Windows Phone 8 is released

Ever since Windows Phone was announced - back when it was still Windows Phone 7 - game developers have been moaning they have to use the C# programming language.

The reason is that Microsoft restricts developers to using its XNA Game Creator development tools, although it's oft rumoured it has a native SDK that for various political reasons hasn't been released.

Indeed, even last week, Critical Thought Games' president David Whatley told PocketGamer.biz he thought the lack of support for middleware such as Unreal and Unity - for this very reason - was a "serious handicap".

The technical restrictions, and additional cost of porting, means some larger studios have avoided releasing existing iOS content.

Now, however, it appears a reconciliation will be available, just not for the current rev of the OS.

Instead, we're hearing rumours that Windows Phone 8 (codenamed Apollo) and expected to launch in mid-2012, will be the point at which developers are finally allowed to code natively.

It's expected this release will also enable convergence with the forthcoming Windows 8 OS - itself designed for PCs and tablets - although it's not entirely clear how code compatible the two OSes will be, although some Windows 8 apps will run on ARM chips.

Of course, this is little consolation for developers who have existing games they want to port to Windows Phone, but no doubt, Microsoft and hardware partners such as Nokia will be reaching out to encourage them to prepare for the changes before too long.