If Sony doesn’t feel threatened by Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Xbox, then it should reconsider its strategy now that Microsoft is planning their Xbox Live to (really and fully) support cross-platform. The company is planning to make the Xbox gaming experience available on other devices and platforms, even if they are its rivals.
Thanks to the eagle-eyed G4G Media’s @Avers, we saw Microsoft announce their plans in the incoming GDC 2019, which will take place between 18 and 22 March. It’s the perfect place and moment where big-name companies announce their plans for hardware and software, teasing not just gamers, but also developers. Here is how their short presentation is titled:
“Xbox Live: Growing & Engaging Your Gaming Community Across iOS, Android, Switch, Xbox, and PC”
The session from Microsoft will include as speakers Microsoft and Team Xbox’s Jeffrey (Shi Principal Program Manager), and Ramsey Khadder (Software Engineer). They will talk about how much bigger Xbox will soon be:
Xbox Live is expanding from 400M gaming devices and a reach to over 68M active players to over 2B devices with the release of our new cross-platform XDK.
Microsoft is planning to make Xbox Live available to all gamers on Android, iOS, PC and Nintendo Switch.
Until now, Slash Gear noted that Xbox Live was limited in functionality across these platforms, but in the future, it will let you do a lot more than chat with your friends. Players can “take their gaming achievement history, their friends list, their clubs, and more with them to almost every screen.”
It is also supposed to be a better approach for developers that will waste less time making their games work on different platforms and save more time for the creative process:
Game producers looking to plan a multi-platform strategy that brings the most active, engaged players into a community where they can watch, buy, play, pause, and continue their games from one device to the next […].
Along with Project xCloud, this move will have players enjoy a game on whatever device they have, all thanks to the Microsoft’s technology, which is exactly what the company wishes – an ecosystem that works on any kind of device, allowing players enjoy their favorite games anywhere they are.
Robert J. Smith is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including JoyStiq and Android Authority. In regards to academics, Robert earned a degree in business from Fordham University. Robert has passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.
