At Microsoft’s Build conference currently taking place in Seattle, it was confirmed that the Xbox Live Creators Program will give developers the ability to enable keyboard support on Xbox One. In addition, we received a peek at Microsoft’s Fluent Design system that will change the look of the Xbox One guide.
Andrew Parsons, senior program manager for game developers at Microsoft, spoke at the conference during a session titled “State of play: Modern game development,” and it is here where he noted that developers utilizing the Xbox Live Creators Program will have the ability to enable all Windows features on Xbox One, including keyboard support. Parsons also said that most mice won’t be compatible initially, but Microsoft hopes to add support for all mice down the line at some point in the future.
While showcasing their Fluent Design system, Microsoft revealed a new menu design for the Xbox One as well, which can be seen below. The purpose of this design system is to “deliver intuitive, harmonious, responsive and inclusive cross-device experiences and interactions.”
Some similarities can be seen between the current guide and the one shown above, however this one seems to feature a different, possibly translucent background. It is possible that this is a mock-up or an early concept and not the final design.
E3 2017 is just around the corner so we may learn more information about the design at that time. Microsoft is set to reveal Project Scorpio among other announcements on June 11.
Source: Digital Trends
Jennifer is a games journalist, former games journalist and PR Manager at Gearbox. They contributed 234 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: went on to write for Windows Central and later managed PR for Gearbox Software.