14 DAY TRIAL // The development team working on the Xbox One is announcing that it is planning to introduce cross-platform play for the home console for all interested developers, which will allow them to create experiences that give communities a chance to compete with those who own a PlayStation 4 or a PC that's not powered by Windows 10.
According to an official announcement from Chris Charla, the leader of the ID@Xbox program, the first title that will support the new feature is Rocket League, which was first introduced on the Sony home console but has also delivered solid sales on the Microsoft platform.
The cross-platform action will initially only support connections between the PC and the Xbox One, but an open invitation is extended to Sony to bring the PlayStation 4 into this agreement.
The executive is also announcing that MonoGame support will soon be launched for the Microsoft home console and that Axiom Verge is the first title that will arrive on the device using the new solution.
Charla says that it is also continuing to offer the Xbox Game Preview program, which has created some interesting titles over the course of the last year and the company is also working on improving the marketplace.
The executive adds, "We don’t just want to provide a platform to ship games, we want to provide a marketplace where games have the opportunity to sell, so developers can achieve commercial success and keep doing what they love to do – make great games for us to play!"
ID@Xbox is also expanding on Windows 10
According to Charla, hundreds of developers are planning to deliver titles for the platform as Microsoft continues to work to integrate the two ecosystems and create a unified gaming space.
During the Game Developers Conference, the company is aiming to show off 40 of the video games that will be launched via ID@Xbox in 2016 and more details about the most important releases will be offered in the coming days.
The Xbox One is at the moment lagging behind the PlayStation 4 in terms of both United States and worldwide sales and the addition of potential cross-platform play, if it is widely adopted, might help the console narrow that gap.
The Microsoft announcements also show that the company is very serious when it comes to the development of new connections between its home consoles and Windows 10 devices, which should enhance a user's experience shortly.