New investments for Xbox developers and gamers kick off GDC 2017
Today, Chris Charla – Director of ID@Xbox – is talking over at Xbox Wire about the Games Developers Conference, and what new developments for game creators and players he’s looking forward to this year.
Here are some of the highlights of his post:
“Introducing the Xbox Live Creators Program: Xbox is kicking off things this year by announcing the Xbox Live Creators Program, which empowers anyone to rapidly publish Xbox Live-enabled games on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, in a totally open way. With the Creators Program, anyone can integrate Xbox Live sign-in, presence, and social features into their UWP games, then publish their game to Xbox One and Windows 10. This means their title can see exposure to every Xbox One owner across the Xbox One family of devices, including Project Scorpio this holiday, as well as hundreds of millions of Windows 10 PCs, and millions of folks using the Xbox app on mobile platforms.
Starting today, we encourage developers to download and start using the Xbox Live Creators SDK here, where they can learn all the details of the program. The Creators Program is currently in preview, so the program will pilot with a select group of developers initially. We will be opening store publishing submissions to all developers soon.
Developers Getting to Know Beam: Beam is awesome. It’s fast, low-latency, interactive game broadcasting and it’s changing the way people can play, watch, and participate. In a world where the amount of people watching game streams rivals the audience of many prime-time TV networks, Xbox is making it easier and quicker to stream than ever before. We’re making Beam a feature of Xbox One and Windows 10, meaning anyone can be a game broadcaster with no extra software required.
Next Up for Windows Game Mode: Another new PC gaming feature we’ve seen lots of excitement around is Windows Game Mode. Last year, we set out to make Windows 10 the best Windows ever for gaming. With Game Mode, we’re taking a step forward to make the gaming experience on Windows even better. Game Mode aims to optimize your Windows 10 PC for an improvement in overall game performance, meaning increased framerates and increased consistency with some games. We’ve also added a new gaming section to your Windows System Settings, identified with an Xbox logo, to further improve your PC gaming experience. This is where you’ll find settings for Game Mode, Game bar, GameDVR and broadcasting as we begin to consolidate settings for gaming in this unified location where PC users are accustomed to accessing their settings. We’ll be sharing more on Game Mode and other Creators Update features in the weeks ahead.
ID@Xbox bringing more Xbox Play Anywhere titles: We introduced the Xbox Play Anywhere program at E3 last year, the simple idea of owning a game and it being available to play on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC – one game, one price, two platforms. Along with having access to a single game on both platforms, players can start playing on one platform and pick up where they left off on another, and their saves, game add-ons, and achievements all travel between their devices.
Gaming for Everyone: At GDC 2017, we’re continuing our work to make sure games are fun for everyone, and to make sure underrepresented voices are heard, by once again sponsoring and hosting events for Women in Gaming, Blacks in Gaming, Latinos in Gaming, LGBTQ Gamers and Gaming Accessibility. 2017 will mark the 17th year for the Women in Gaming Luncheon, the 12th year for the Blacks in Gaming Green Room, the second year of the Latinos in Gaming networking event and the first year for the LGBTQ in Gaming networking event. Additionally, Xbox is a Gold-level sponsor of the IGDA Game Accessibility Conference as well as the sole sponsor for the new IGDA Foundation’s Next Gen Leader program focused on retaining diverse talent in the industry. As we did last year, the ID@Xbox team will be honoring some independent developers who are using their craft to build awareness about some very important issues at the Independent Game Festival awards tonight – we hope you’ll tune into the IGF stream to learn more!
At GDC 2017 our message is clear: more games, new developer opportunities, and big new features for console and PC gamers.”
Head over to Xbox Wire to read more!