We know that Microsoft wants more than ever to free itself from the barriers imposed by the video game industry, and particularly consoles. The firm aims to be present on all screens, and the latest episode of the podcast hosted by Jez Corden and Rand al Thor gave us some details on one of its expansion projects.
Towards a social hub like Miiverse?
In response to a question from a player regarding the recent rumors that the spirit of Xbox was gradually fading and that Microsoft was now mainly talking about Microsoft Gaming, we had some details on what could be in preparing the firm with its desire to put “Xbox on all screens”:
I have some details on what exactly “Xbox on All Screens” looks like now. And I think what that is is every Xbox game will have a social interface across all games.
So if you’re playing Sea of Thieves, for example, on the PlayStation, you’ll be able to bring up an Xbox mini guide, or something like that. A bit like Battlenet, in a way.
Jeff Grubb then retorts: “Yes, like a Miiverse”, which is confirmed by the Windows Central journalist before mentioning the code name of the project which would be Roseway.
What for ?
As described, the concept is quite vague and it is not really clear what purpose it could actually be used for.
For those who don’t know, the Miiverse was a sort of social hub launched in 2012 that was mainly active on the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, in which you had a small avatar that interacted with other players by sharing messages, images and other videos. It was a sort of social network within the Nintendo universe.
This could also be reminiscent of the news feed that we already find on Xbox. Even if the latter has been less and less highlighted over the evolution of Xbox interfaces, it also allows you to interact with players from your friends list and more broadly from the ecosystem, and could thus give a small idea of what Microsoft is planning. It remains to be seen whether players see any benefit in this type of hub.
Note that these elements must be taken with a grain of salt, because at the moment we do not really see what such a project could bring to Microsoft. If this is confirmed, we imagine that the firm will reveal more on the subject in the coming months.
