Microsoft announced the details of the large update in a blog post today. It will launch in preview form this week to players who participate in the Xbox Preview program, providing a look at upcoming features before their public debut.
The most notable change for many is likely to be the arrival of digital assistant Cortana on the Xbox One. As first announced last year, Cortana will allow you to control your Xbox One with voice commands.
You can make general queries, such as searching for the news and weather and checking if friends are online, as well as more as specific ones, such as taking a screenshot or saving a gameplay video.
In games, Cortana appears as a translucent overlay in the top-right corner. You can interact with Cortana without leaving the game you’re playing. The assistant will keep listening to you while you use the controller to continue gaming. Microsoft says Cortana is designed to “elevate” your Xbox experience, letting you start a party, adjust headset volume or check if a friend is online without having to head into menus and away from your game.
The Xbox One’s interface has received a few tweaks including a revamped Game Collection screen. It makes it easier to keep tabs on games you own, check which are ready to install and monitor the download progress of new titles in your library.
The activity feed has also been tweaked to give you more choice over what’s uploaded publicly and what is displayed in your activity feed. You’ll be able to tailor its contents to suit you, creating what Microsoft claims is a “more personal” experience. Finally, the content sharing process has been simplified so you can upload screenshots and Game DVR clips in fewer steps.
As part of Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to merge Windows 10 and Xbox closer together, the company has announced it is going to converge the Xbox Store and Windows Store. It will create a single “cohesive experience” to find new games whether on PC, mobile or console.
On the Xbox One, new search filters are being added to let you find interesting games more quickly. The Windows Store is gaining support for bundles, episodic games, season passes, virtual currency and game DLC, making it a more complete platform to buy and download games from. It represents Microsoft continuing to use the Windows Store to compete against established PC gaming services such as Steam.
The update is a substantial one that indicates Microsoft’s refocused vision for Xbox. The company is working to make it a gaming service rather than a console, unifying its features and store across PCs and the Xbox One. In doing so, it opens Xbox up to millions of Windows 10 users.
“Starting this summer, Xbox One and the Xbox app will receive the first of two updates that will help you stay connected with friends on Xbox Live and enjoy even more games across your favorite devices,” said Mike Ybarra, Director of Program Management for Xbox. “Cortana will come to Xbox One; the Xbox and Windows Stores will start to become unified; we will begin to introduce your top PC games with Game Hubs to Xbox Live, and more. These updates are crucial to giving our fans around the world a great gaming experience wherever and whatever they play.”
The update will roll out to the Xbox Preview program over the next week. Windows Insiders with the beta version of the Xbox app will also receive an update that improves the Xbox experience on Windows 10, including better Game DVR clip management, support for 60fps Game DVR recording and improved support for full-screen games using the Xbox Game Bar. The updates for console and Windows will ship to the public later this summer.
