Another promise of a big announcement is coming up for Microsoft’s GDC keynote in February. But this time that announcement is on the 2008 software side of things, so it’s sure to be a bigger hit than an added network to Microsoft’s download service. News comes word of all the official keynotes announced through the GDC website, where VP John Schappert will be making his speech at the conference.

“Schappert’s keynote explores the Xbox 360 platform’s next step in democratizing game development, vastly opening up the industry for developers of all sizes. The session will set the strategy for Xbox 360 this upcoming year, revealing top developers’ plans for the platform in 2008. Schappert will discuss how the increasing role of online gaming will continue to shape gameplay and game distribution this year.”

It seems pretty likely that we would hear some big things out of this years GDC. Last year, while Miyamoto had a keynote, a Japanese Stock Exchange prevented the company from sharing any major information. However, Sony showed off both Home and Little Big Planet for the first time. Hopefully Microsoft will follow suit this year and come prepared with its own big announcements to counter.

The keynote in question takes place February 20th, 10:30AM – 11:30AM, so expect to hear the news roughly around that time as it hits the internet. Although, like usual, I’m sure the keynote will get off to a late start.