Xbox Believe in Gamer Choice
A critical part of growing any ecosystem is ensuring that it works as players expect in every situation; on Xbox, that means the way you manage your hardware and games, the way you find what you want to play next, and the way you communicate and share with friends. Whichever device you use, Team Xbox aspire to deliver an amazing Xbox experience – one that keeps you connected to games and friends throughout your day. Your feedback has been invaluable in pursuit of this vision, and today we’re sharing a glimpse of how everything will fit together this holiday. In addition to this blog, check out the video we created, which goes more in-depth on what’s to come.
Feel Instantly Welcome, However You Choose to Play
All the ways you experience Xbox should feel inviting and familiar, whether you’re on the couch playing on your console, rallying a group of friends together from your PC, or sneaking in a quick session on your Android device via cloud gaming. The new Xbox look and feel is designed to be faster to use, more approachable and visually appealing. This holiday it will be shared across all Xbox mobile apps, Xbox Game Pass on PC, and of course Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles. Text is more readable, elements on screen are easier to understand at a glance, and accomplishing your tasks is faster than ever. This includes tile shape, fonts, an updated illustration style, and more. The overall layout of most of the console pages remains familiar, just faster and more focused.
Xbox are also there to support your gaming questions, no matter the place or time.From Xbox Assist on your console, to Xbox Support on the web, to Xbox Game Pass on your phone or PC, you can get any help you need and be back to gaming as quickly as possible.
Xbox is Ready to Go When You Are
Xbox Series X will set a new bar for speed when it launches this November, and the Team behind the brand are taking the same approach to accelerate experiences across Xbox. The Xbox Velocity Architecture and Quick Resume technology make games quicker to launch, and the folks at Xbox knew they wanted to make them faster to discover, talk about, and download – even while you’re away from your console. Your phone, PC, or console – all working together. Any time you have available to spend gaming is valuable, and the team at Xbox wanted to ensure it was time spent playing, not waiting. The Home screen will load more than 50 percent faster when you boot your Xbox, and is almost 30 percent faster to load when you’re returning from a game. Furthermore, these improvements use 40 percent less memory than what was previously required.
Earlier this month the team unveiled the new Microsoft Store on the console, rebuilt with your feedback in mind – and it’s fast! Having cut the app launch time to about two seconds, and updated navigation makes it quicker and easier to find what you’re looking for. It’s easy to understand at a glance what’s included or discounted with any memberships you have, like Xbox Game Pass.
A United Platform for Communities to Gather
Xbox have a new Xbox mobile app in the works, and they are better integrating your phone into the social experiences on Xbox, letting you share and connect with your existing network of friends more easily.For example, when you choose to share an update or game clip from your console, it will also automatically be sent to your Xbox mobile app, so you can share it on the social networks of your choice.
Using the new mobile app, Xbox friends can quickly send messages or launch parties to keep conversations going even when they’re on the go. Notifications have also been consolidated, which will reflect activity across mobile, PC, and console. The Team have combined related activities like Parties and Chats into a single tab in the Xbox console Guide, so it’s easier to know what’s going on with your friends and communities.
If some of these updates look familiar, it’s because you may have helped Team Xbox build them over the past year through our Xbox Insider program, or when you noticed them hidden in plain sight (like when the new illustration style found its way into the Game Bar welcome screen, or a light theme was tested in the Family Settings App preview). Xbox plan to roll them out in the coming weeks, and come November we’ll all celebrate a milestone in Xbox’s user experience journey alongside the launch of Xbox Series X.