Native Xbox development will be phased out

Microsoft is working hard to integrate Xbox and Windows game development more closely into the future. Windows Central understands that traditional Win32 will be the preferred development environment for the next mainline Xbox consoles, with Xbox One/Series X|S "ERA" environment gradually phased out. Where that leaves our existing library of Xbox ERA games remains to be seen, but it seems emulation is one avenue Microsoft is exploring for backward compatibility and game preservation. - Link

It sounds like next generation, developers will be moving towards straight Win32 development, including on Xbox consoles.

ERA is the environment that the next console will use, where a hypervisor can allow you to swap between native Xbox mode and a PC environment. The native Xbox mode will be phased out gradually, and the PC environment will take over. Play Anywhere will also be a bridge some games will feature that give console Xbox gamers some access when they arrive to the future PC environment.

It's uncertain if the emulation will be available to average PCs or only for special hardware which might have custom hardware features such as the ones that allow today's Series consoles to play Xbox One games. It may also be the case that games will have to be re-licensed to run in emulation in a new environment, such as what had to be done for Xbox One backwards compatibility. Some games were compatible with the emulation Microsoft was working on, but were ultimately not made available due to licensing issues.

The Win32 development environment will be open to other storefronts, and Microsoft has already let some of the changes slip in the Xbox App for Windows as shown here:

There are plans to allow access to games from other storefronts. Later this year we could see some of this work in Project Kennan, the Xbox portable being developed by Microsoft and ASUS. It's said to feature improvements in the Windows OS and user experience.

Does this change anything for gamers? It looks like we'll have a test run with the portable and perhaps updates to the desktop as Microsoft seeks to bring the "best of both PC and Xbox" in updates to their operating system.

For lems, hopefully there will still be optimized games for the platform if they target PC. For herms, they might get some Xbox features, but also more OS integration with prominent placement of Xbox content, and highlighting its features and services to users when they use the OS the way we see them do on the desktop with their other initiatives. Unsure if Microsoft will bring the console-ification of PC gaming, but they do need to make things more accessible for their future living room and handheld Xbox hardware.

Makes sense.

fantastic news!

Very good.

Great news. Plays your entire library via emulation, and then a single development platform. PC/Xbox.

Definitely sounds very good.

About damn time

Long overdue.

Developers shouldn't have to have a separate dev kit for consoles these days when they are essentially PC boxes that run x86 anyway.

This way, they could take the PC version that they develop on and just optimize settings for specific hardware like they do with the Steam Deck profiles.

@girlusocrazy said:

Microsoft is working hard to integrate Xbox and Windows game development more closely into the future. Windows Central understands that traditional Win32 will be the preferred development environment for the next mainline Xbox consoles, with Xbox One/Series X|S "ERA" environment gradually phased out. Where that leaves our existing library of Xbox ERA games remains to be seen, but it seems emulation is one avenue Microsoft is exploring for backward compatibility and game preservation. - Link

It sounds like next generation, developers will be moving towards straight Win32 development, including on Xbox consoles.

ERA is the environment that the next console will use, where a hypervisor can allow you to swap between native Xbox mode and a PC environment. The native Xbox mode will be phased out gradually, and the PC environment will take over. Play Anywhere will also be a bridge some games will feature that give console Xbox gamers some access when they arrive to the future PC environment.

It's uncertain if the emulation will be available to average PCs or only for special hardware which might have custom hardware features such as the ones that allow today's Series consoles to play Xbox One games. It may also be the case that games will have to be re-licensed to run in emulation in a new environment, such as what had to be done for Xbox One backwards compatibility. Some games were compatible with the emulation Microsoft was working on, but were ultimately not made available due to licensing issues.

The Win32 development environment will be open to other storefronts, and Microsoft has already let some of the changes slip in the Xbox App for Windows as shown here:

There are plans to allow access to games from other storefronts. Later this year we could see some of this work in Project Kennan, the Xbox portable being developed by Microsoft and ASUS. It's said to feature improvements in the Windows OS and user experience.

Does this change anything for gamers? It looks like we'll have a test run with the portable and perhaps updates to the desktop as Microsoft seeks to bring the "best of both PC and Xbox" in updates to their operating system.

For lems, hopefully there will still be optimized games for the platform if they target PC. For herms, they might get some Xbox features, but also more OS integration with prominent placement of Xbox content, and highlighting its features and services to users when they use the OS the way we see them do on the desktop with their other initiatives. Unsure if Microsoft will bring the console-ification of PC gaming, but they do need to make things more accessible for their future living room and handheld Xbox hardware.

Yep, no more Xbox home console. It is just a PC with Xbox UI.

**** Xbox

Maybe they should have just done this from the start in 2001, that's what everyone thought they were going to do when they announced a console.

@girlusocrazy: Exactly. Xbox should have always been PC with native controller support. Nothing else.

Good.

@Pedro: And we already had that. Microsoft has made some head scratching decisions sometimes and that's probably what led them down this road.

Edit: I'll add:

Instead of keeping the eye on the PC gaming ball, they focused on a console that seemed to struggle on the market sometimes, and let Steam become really strong on PC. And when they did focus on PC gaming, it was with G4WL, trying to bring a vision of gaming to PC that turned PC gamers away and even more towards Steam. At least now they have embraced it and are putting their games on there too.

I hope their improvements to the OS are also done the right way and they don't try to force PC gamers into their vision, but instead go with them where they are and the way they want to play, as they seem to be saying more recently.

MS was and continue (until something changes) to be dumb when it comes to gaming. They have the capacity to have a platform that is traditional PC gaming and console gaming. Folks who like PC gaming as is, continue to game as normal. Console gamers get a platform and hardware that looks and feel like a console but it is just PC gaming with native controller support. That is all they needed to freaking do but the 360's success made them dumb thus the Xbox One ball drop. Even now they are fumbling with shitty Windows store integration, spyware Windows and UI downgrade. Thankful they fired the monkey behind Windows 11. What a piece of shit OS. I will give them credit for taking over a decade to have native controller support that is still a half ass version of Steam's Big picture with Gamebar.🥳

Gamers rejoice.

Forgive my ignorance, I'm not that tech savvy.... but would this mean that with future Xbox consoles, you'll have to manage graphics settings for each game like with PC & what you see on Steam Deck? Or will it still work similar to console games now, where it's quite simple and you have preset settings you can choose from (ie. favour graphics, performance etc).

Yes! Like the Steam Deck but more "precise". It will be more or less the same experience you have now except that developers don't need a special build for Xbox. So, it should translate to Xbox games essentially being PC games that run on Xbox. No porting necessary if there is a PC version.

@hrt_rulz01: That is what we are all wondering. MS said we would start to see improvements to Windows for gaming. Nobody knows exactly what they will do.

Regarding changing the way the OS does driver installations and other things that usually need a mouse and keyboard to go through a setup process, I don't know how they will change it. I don't know if GPU companies will like it if you hide their ads during setup and their control panel software that features their services and game promotions and their app in the system tray that gives you their popups. Maybe they will set something up with the manufacturers where they can get the latest driver and install it silently, because the way it is done through Windows Update now, you don't always get the best driver and there can be performance issues. But these are the certified drivers, the ones with better performance don't go through WHQL certification. It would suck to brick your console or handheld.

When it comes to graphics settings, maybe they will have to rely on auto configuration, because there are supposed to be many "Xbox" hardware devices that 3rd parties will be making too, not just the Microsoft one, so games will have to figure this out. But it will be important for games to work out of the box with a controller and in full screen mode, without any prompts that require the mouse and keyboard.

Steam has some of this figured out on Windows, and when they have control of the OS like on Steam Deck they are able to make things work seamlessly, so maybe Microsoft will be able to do something similar.

I hope that's the case, because that's why I like consoles. Download/install game and play. No messing around with graphic settings etc. If this is how it will continue but it's Windows based in the background, sounds good to me. Still a question mark about BC though...

I wouldn't be concerned about BC. With the backend being Windows, (it technically is on Xbox currently) BC will be easily attainable.

I have no idea what any of this means but I'm glad Lems are happy about it since they've been going through a tough time since Xbox is now a full 3rd party publisher and completely lost to PlayStation and Nintendo

hmmm, i was told this was "fan fiction".. 🤔

if true, this sounds great and is the logical step forward for Xbox hardware and software support..

@Pedro: you have no clue what you're talking about, windows 11 is one of the greatest OS, and they only made it better from the amazing OS that was windows 10.

Meh, I'm 99% sure I won't buy the next "Xbox" anyway.

Nice.

@blaznwiipspman1: I dunno Phil Spencer and Jason Ronald of Microsoft were saying it could use improvements, and that's what the reviews of the gaming handhelds usually mention too. Microsoft wants to widen their appeal to a broader set of gamers, and that means making everything more accessible.

@Pedro: you must be an apple shill 🤣 sorry but apple sucks and so does ios, it doesn't hold a candle to windows.

@girlusocrazy: fully agreed on that point. Windows 11 was never designed for pc handhelds in mind. I mean, even steam deck launched 2021. I think windows 12 will really have full featured support for handhelds.

No one mentioned apple until you came along.🤭 Windows 11 still sucks. Deal with it.😎

@uitravioience:

You know things are bad over at Sony when you have to hide behind Nintendo.

Stop fighting it, playstation is an Xbox and you are part of the Xbox family 👍

Interesting. Will xbox emulate the current library when they move to Win32? Problem with compability will definitely appear but I do am interested in how xbox tackling them and will player able to play console games they own on it as there likely legal issues regarding copyright and publishing (example console/pc having different publisher).

If it means Sony stop coasting on success and gets serious then lets kill the xbox, lets get to PC.

@blaznwiipspman1: Well it's hard to deny there's plenty of other stuff to fix in it, that's why a lot of third party tools and software exist to debloat, disable telemetry and ads and nags, customize the interface, replace default apps that suck. It's stuff every herm knows about and has to deal with, but things could be better.

Maybe now it will be possible to customize the console though. One time Microsoft removed YouTube sharing on consoles because they wanted to promote Beam/Mixer. That's the type of thing that should be customizable. The user should be able to pick the service they want, and even add their own custom option, just like how you can pick what default Search engine you want to use in your browser, and also your default browser. One example of an improvement for Windows here would be to allow you to pick the default File browser app they want to use. Not sure why this isn't an option, but it should be. Same with replacing the taskbar of the OS and other parts of the interface to suit what the user wants. That should all be in the Default Apps settings.

Third parties will also be using the OS for their own hardware, their own PCs and handhelds and consoles. They will have their own services to promote, they will want to be able to use their own launcher, so the user experience will need more flexibility to accommodate that. Fundamentally the role of the OS is supposed to be to empower the user to use the hardware for what they want to do and how they want to do it. Just like MS wants to meet gamers wherever and however they play and they understand now that not everyone aligns with their specific vision, so there needs to be flexibility and reaching out.

Hopefully this means now you'll be able to customize all that and everything will become more modular and flexible and open like what herms appreciate about the PC platform.

Great news, and long overdue.

Now just bring back Microsoft Combat Simulations and I'll be happy 😁😋

Lems are happy with 29% compatibility for 360 games and 6% compatibility for Xbox games, so I don't know, maybe they don't care about BC so much?

Sony fannies are happy with 0% compatibility for PS1, PS2 and PS3 games, so Sony fannies genuinely don't care about BC. 🤷🏾‍♂️

@Pedro: I don't think lems will care about what Sony fannies think when it comes to buying new gaming hardware, but they do have questions about bringing games forward. But maybe that isn't as big an issue as people are making it out to be.

I wasn't talking about Xbox fannies and nor care what they think. I am simply using your logic on Sony fannies. Who are the they you are referring to with Xbox fannies?

Your last statement is the most accurate. It is odd that the platform that currently has the best BC is being questioned about BC on a platform that is based on the Windows core.

@Pedro: Oh ok. I thought maybe you were saying something that had to do with the Xbox stuff. People like Colteastwood and Jez and others have been wondering about what will happen with the Xbox console games they will own and if licensing will affect it, and it's something that Phil seemed to address with digital purchases, but maybe I'm wrong and nobody cares.

Those folks are dumb. Folks who follow them will also become as dumb as them. If Xbox shifts to a unified platform, it will be carry your games across. Every game released on Xbox One forward already signed off on their games being available on whatever form Xbox takes. MS has the capacity to release and make games on the 360 and OG Xbox work on Xbox One and Series but previous license agreement requires signing a new license The new license is hardware agnostic. At least MS was smart post 360 to shift the license to be aligned with hardware agnostic agreement.

@Pedro: Really? Where did you see that? Last I saw their publisher license specifically referenced Xbox Consoles, and that was defined as Xbox One and Xbox Series and didn't say anything about future hardware or non-console hardware.

You saw the contract? Then please feel free to share the license that you are referencing.

@Pedro: Um sure but you first since you brought it up?

I can't because the contracts that are signed are under NDA, thus I was interested in your claim that you seen publishers license agreement with Microsoft.

I hope their solution isn't streaming BC.

@Pedro: Ok, well in my case I can share what's already been made public. I'm not sure how much software is licensed under the terms that you claim exist, and I haven't seen any public discussion about these terms, but it's possible there is a lot of software licensed under the terms similar to what is mentioned here and here and here, and they will have to renegotiate for compatibility with these titles.

It also seems odd that big publishers would relinquish control over what happens to their game on future platforms that are different from the one they're developing on, but maybe it's possible.

I will have to concede on this one until I find what I am referencing in which I can take a snippet of the document.

With that said, the developer does not give up control. Publishing simply rolls over for products published on existing platforms to future platforms. Developers can withdraw at anytime.

@Pedro: Sounds like there's licensing stuff that will lead to some BC issues going forward. But maybe it's not an issue, the current compatibility is low for previous generations and people seem ok with it.

What reasoning are you using for this BC issues?

@Pedro: The licensing

@girlusocrazy: How does the licensing affect BC for the next generation system?

Note, Xbox One games are BC on Series despite launching 7 years earlier and the Series not being part of the licensing agreement. Similarly to BC on every other console.

360 and OG Xbox games are recompiled BC not simply functional because of emulation.