XNA is a framework and toolset provided by Microsoft for game development that allows creation of games across Windows, Xbox 360, Windows Phone and Zune HD. It is built on top of DirectX and provides core frameworks for graphics, audio, input, math and storage. Games are developed using C# or VB.NET in Microsoft Visual Studio along with XNA. The content pipeline processes game assets to optimize for different platforms. The game lifecycle in XNA follows initialize, load, update, draw and unload methods.