Xbox Play Anywhere coming to Windows 10 this September

by Parm Mann on 5 July 2016, 11:36

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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The Xbox One S and Project Scorpio may have stolen the limelight at Microsoft's 2016 E3 conference, but for gamers who straddle multiple Windows platforms, Xbox Play Anywhere may have been the more meaningful announcement.

Microsoft's new initiative implies that when you buy an Xbox Play Anywhere digital title, it'll be yours to play on either Xbox One or a Windows 10 PC. The lines between the two platforms are truly beginning to blur, yet there's an obvious benefit to gamers wanting to play the same title on both platforms without additional cost.

Making use of its cloud ecosystem, Microsoft reckons that save games, add-ons and achievements will sync seamlessly between machines, allowing you to pick up where you left off irrespective of platform - provided it's on an Xbox One or Windows 10 PC, of course.

Adding the missing pieces to the jigsaw, Microsoft has this week confirmed to Polygon that Xbox Play Anywhere will officially launch on September 13. The Windows 10 Anniversary Edition update, available starting August 2, will be a prerequisite, as will the summer update heading to Xbox One games consoles.

The company's official Xbox Play Anywhere site lists Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3 and ReCore amid an initial line-up of 12 supported titles, and corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi has confirmed that "every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store."



HEXUS Forums :: 11 Comments

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If they do this right and keep burning the midnight oil on making the UWP infrastructure better, this could be the start of gaming uniformity across platforms. Great news!

*tin foil* However it does beg the question on this could cause consoles to really drag down the PC unless the consoles stay either current generation and regularly get close to bleeding edge. If they get to trailing edge then the games capabilities could be hampered.
what about making sure titles works properly on PC ?? i think thats not important right microsoft ? no matter what you do people won't be buying your pathetic games that runs like dog#### on your poor windows store.
This does just seem to pave the way for fewer ‘proper’ PC games rather than just console ports. Don't get me wrong I enjoy playing console games, but I can't see this improving things for the PC.
2 things that I'd like to be sure about before I get too excited

1. The press release only talks about MS Studios published games, what about everyone else - will there be a framework in place that allows any publisher to use the feature?

2. Will I need an XB1 console? I was interested in the XB1S, but if a lot of the titles will work on my PC I'd happily save on the cost of more gadgets. Sounds promising that titles will be listed in the Windows store, so I'd presume I won't need XB1 hardware.
virtuo
…2. Will I need an XB1 console? ….

Don't see why you would. The whole point is that you get both XBox AND PC formats of the game, and play either or both as suits you. Not having an XB1 means you won't get the best out of the deal, but the games - AFAICT nayway - will just be regular digital download PC games in the Windows Store, that happen to come with a free XB1 digital download too.