Microsoft Teases a New Xbox UI Update
▼ Summary
– Microsoft demonstrated a “consistent” Xbox UI across handhelds, consoles, and cloud gaming at GDC in March, and released a new video showing it in detail.
– Jason Ronald said the UI addresses player complaints about fragmentation, aiming for a familiar “distinctly Xbox” experience across all devices.
– The UI shows subtle differences: the console home screen has three ad slots instead of four, and the PC app resembles the new cloud gaming interface.
– Ronald noted the UI won’t be identical across devices due to factors like screen size and input methods.
– Microsoft also showed a potential new Xbox store for Windows, but declined to comment on the UI or store changes.
During its March keynote at the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft previewed what it described as a more consistent Xbox experience across handhelds, consoles, and cloud gaming. At the time, discerning any real changes from event photos and videos was tricky. But a newly released video of the keynote, published today, offers a far clearer look at what’s coming.
Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s VP of next generation at Xbox, acknowledged during the presentation that players had been noticing “a lot of fragmentation within the experience” across different devices, along with a general lack of consistency. “What the team has been doing behind the scenes is doing a lot of work to deliver a consistent experience, so it feels very familiar and very distinctly Xbox no matter where you’re choosing to play,” Ronald explained.
At first glance, the redesigned interface doesn’t represent a radical departure from what’s currently available, but subtle differences emerge across platforms. The Xbox console homescreen now places the user profile in the top right corner and reduces ad slots from four to three along the bottom. That same layout appears on the handheld version shown in the image, while the PC app on the right side more closely resembles the updated Xbox Cloud Gaming interface.
When Microsoft first began testing the new cloud gaming UI, I noted that it felt more console-like than ever, thanks to fresh animations, a revamped library section, and a rounded design. Microsoft’s slide now suggests this same interface could migrate to the Xbox PC app. However, Ronald cautioned that the UI won’t be identical across every device, “because we think about things like screen size, or things like input modalities.”
Later in the same Xbox game dev update video, Microsoft also teased what appears to be a new Xbox store on Windows. I reached out to the company for details on both the UI and store changes, but Microsoft declined to comment.
If you want to see Ronald’s full GDC keynote, the nearly 90-minute Xbox game dev update video is embedded below, starting directly at his presentation.
(Source: The Verge)
