According to some new information from Microsoft’s GDC 2019 schedule briefing, the company is set to announce a new cross-platform development platform that would bring Xbox Live support to other devices such as Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
Microsoft has been pretty vocal on cross-platform play and they seem to want even more of it if this briefing is anything to go by. The company has something already something similar in effect already with Minecraft, but it seems that Microsoft wants to push the envelope even further.
I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what Microsoft is planning to do with bringing Xbox Live to other platforms, but they have piqued my interest and I will most definitely be tuning into them this year at GDC 2019.
Check out what the briefing schedule details about the upcoming new cross-platform service:
Xbox Live is one of the largest, most engaged gaming communities on the planet with decades of experience providing managed game services to developers that save you time and unlock all of the social and engagement features that players love.
Now Xbox Live is about to get MUCH bigger. 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.
Get a first look at the SDK to enable game developers to connect players between iOS, Android, and Switch in addition to Xbox and any game in the Microsoft Store on Windows PCs.
Takeaway
- Xbox Live players are highly engaged and active on Xbox and PC, but now they can take their gaming achievement history, their friends list, their clubs, and more with them to almost every screen.
- This will break down barriers for developers that want their communities to mingle more freely across platforms. Combined with PlayFab gaming services, this means less work for game developers and more time to focus on making games fun.
Playing Xbox supported games on other devices like the Nintendo Switch or mobile phones seem like a bold and crazy move for Microsoft. The ability to take Xbox Live on anything other than a Microsoft platform is weird in itself, but I guess the company has plans for the expansion of Xbox. We will have to wait for GDC 2019 for the official full details.
Are you excited about the new cross-platform news? What do you make of all this? Let us know in the comments below!
