From the look of things, Microsoft has the plans set to expand cross-platform support for its Xbox Live online service to avid gamers on Android and iOS mobile devices as well as on the Nintendo Switch.
At the forthcoming Game Developers Conference, a scheduled Microsoft session details that Xbox Live will soon have a developer kit that integrates the service into the various platforms games. The conference starts next month on March 18th.
The new cross-platform Software Development Kit will allow game developers to connect players on the Xbox One, PC, Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch, from which they will be able to access their gaming achievements, friends list, clubs, and more on several devices.
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.
– states the session’s description.
Microsoft is targeting game services engineers that can save time and expand their customer base by letting the company’s managed game services to “handle social, communication, and multiplayer interactions across billions of screens.”
The brand is also looking at game producers who can ably “plan a multi-platform strategy” while converging together the active and engaged players to watch, buy, play, pause, and continue their games from one device to another.
Microsoft is also reported to be working on an xCloud game streaming service that will be unveiled later this year, for gamers to stream Xbox games to PCs, consoles, and mobile devices.
The company is also running other initiatives under that include the Xbox Game Pass subscription program and the rumored next-generation Xbox that will exclusively stream games.
The extension of the Xbox Live service to becoming cross platform will only be the trigger to success of these ambitions. We wait to see!
