Xbox was present at the AMD and Lenovo event dedicated to the presentation of the new Lenovo Legion Go S and Lenovo Legion Go 2 portable consoles. In addition to this, Microsoft was present to discuss its future strategy regarding the integration of Xbox into Windows portable consoles.
Microsoft wants to combine Xbox and Windows experiences
In the words of Phil Spencer himself, Windows is a weak point for portable gaming today, mainly because of the controls and the way the OS works. Luckily, the company has been working on these issues for a while now, and it was through Jason Ronald, VP of Next Gen at Xbox, that we got some details on the subject.
“We've been innovating in consoles for a long time, and as part of our partnerships across the industry, it's about how we can bring those innovations that we've incubated and developed into consoles and bring them to PC and portable gaming. »
In an interview with The Verge, he confirmed that Microsoft is considering combining the Xbox and Windows experiences, and that we should see changes this year, “rather than having to wait for an Xbox handheld console that might not not see the light of day for several years. »
“I would say it's about bringing together the best of Xbox and Windows, because we've spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it's really tied to the console. What we're doing is we're focusing on how we can bring these experiences to gamers and developers in the broader Windows ecosystem.
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We're working to simplify this experience and make it more console-like. Our goal is to put the player and their library at the center of the experience and not everything you need to do today with Windows.”
Towards a model similar to SteamOS?
If Microsoft has already started to review its copy for the Xbox PC application, notably with a compact mode, we should be entitled to further integration of Xbox within Windows from 2025.
“I think ultimately our goal is to make Windows great for gaming on any device. The reality is that the Xbox operating system is built on top of Windows. There is so a lot of infrastructure that we've built in the console space that we can bring to the PC space in order to deliver a premium gaming experience on any device.
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There are some things in Windows that weren't designed for people who don't have keyboards and mice, like support for gamepads or joysticks and things like that.”
Jason Ronald explains that there are “fundamental interaction patterns” that teams work on to ensure that no matter the details of the operating system, it's a device and a game-centric experience.
We obviously hope that ultimately, players will be able to start and use their console directly with a simplified OS intended for gaming. Like what Valve is doing with SteamOS, this would allow for a real console experience. with these “laptop PCs” rather than having to tinker with a Windows that is not at all suitable.
