10 years ago
Xbox One and Windows 10 continue to grow together
Yesterday at GDC Phil Spencer shone more light on how Xbox Live and Windows 10 will be further brought together when Windows 10 launches later this year. The biggest announcement in regards to the union of the two services is the Windows Universal App Platform. This new Platform means that a developer can build one project to target multiple devices with what appears to be relative ease. Hopefully this means that there will be more PC ports to the Xbox One and vice versa. An additional benefit of the Windows Universal App Platform is that players will soon be getting a cross-buy feature, meaning that games that choose to opt-in to the program will only require a single purchase on one platform and the ability to play on both will be unlocked.
The Xbox Live SDK will also be making its way over to Windows 10 which means that we should be seeing more cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10. The first example of this is Motiga’s first game, Gigantic, a new MOBA that will allow players on Xbox One to face-off against their friends on Windows 10. Another game that will be making it’s way over from PC is Elite Dangerous; it will be launching at some point during the summer as a timed console exclusive. It seems that players of both platforms will be playing in the same galaxy and their actions will affect the world for each other but no concrete word as of yet on if players of different platforms will be able to play with and against one another.
The ID@Xbox Program will also be making it’s way over to Windows 10, which should lead to only greater games for everyone and even more cross-buy opportunities. For those curious about what this means for players check out the video below to see just how many games and developers are already taking advantage of all the new tools at their disposal.