Microsoft Wants to Expand Cross-Platform Gaming via Xbox Live on Nintendo Switch
GDC is only one month away and Microsoft have begun to talk about their plans for the future. The most interesting thing of note is that Microsoft wishes to grow Xbox Live through PC, mobile devices and Nintendo Switch.
Credit Nintendo
Jeffrey Shi (Principal Program Manager, Team Xbox, Microsoft) and Ramsey Khadder (Software Engineer, Team Xbox, Microsoft) had this to say:
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.
Intended Audience
– Game services engineers looking to save time & expand their customer base by letting Microsoft managed game services handle social, communication, and multiplayer interactions across billions of screens.
– 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 on top of the most reliable social and multiplayer network in the world.
The fact that this implementation intends to “break down barriers for developers” means more games for a wider audience – and that’s nothing but a good thing!
In addition to that, the Nintendo Switch (amongst other platforms) will potentially be able to manage their social and gaming experiences through Xbox Live.
What do you think about the possibility of Xbox Live on Nintendo Switch? Let us know in the Comments section below.