Cross-platform tool maker Marmalade has launched a beta of its development tools for the Windows Phone 8 platform.

Users of the Marmalade Professional and Marmalade Plus SDKs have been given the early support for the Microsoft mobile OS with general availability of the tools coming soon.

Marmalade developers can now start developing OpenGL ES 2.0 based apps for Windows Phone 8 before other Marmalade developers start working on their apps.

The next beta version is due to be released on 19 December with additional features.