Microsoft is being very sneaky about its upcoming Xbox Play Anywhere feature launching this Sept. 13 on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One consoles.
The feature was supposed to unlock a one-time purchase deal for consumers, for all future game releases by the studio, in which they could play the games interchangeably on Microsoft PCs and consoles. These Microsoft systems would handle all player data — friends and save files — in the background and automatically sync files between the two platforms to make transitions from PC to console (and vice versa) smoother.
While the core functions of Xbox Play Anywhere still hold true as of now, a few unspecified "embellishments" from the company in its Windows 10 Anniversary Update announcement has caused a bit of an undesirable change to a highly expected component of it — specifically, its all-encompassing reach of future games that the company publishes.
The original article published on June 29 does say it was updated on July 5 but it doesn't specify exactly where, just that, it was updated. It seemed Microsoft was quietly backtracking on its original promise, though such efforts proved to be futile now since everyone's noticed it. In addition, not cool, Microsoft, not cool.
Reportedly spotted first by the Reddit community and later on mentioned in an update of one of our pieces on the said feature, the previous and exact wording used by Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate vice president for the Windows and devices group, reads:
"Every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store," cached by the Internet Archive.
Exciting news, right? It has, however, been expanded since then.
"Every new title published from Microsoft Studios that we showed onstage at E3 this year will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store," writes the current announcement. [Emphasis added for distinction.]
In other words, the feature will not be available for all upcoming future releases, like Halo 6, conveniently and effectively limiting its scope. This is also mildly confusing because of an E3 announced title, Dead Rising 4, not carrying the feature.
"While Capcom Vancouver is excited about the potential of Xbox Play Anywhere, Dead Rising 4 will not be an Xbox Play Anywhere title," an Xbox representative said in a statement.
So what's the exact deal now, you ask?
Xbox head Phil Spencer took to Twitter to address the growing concerns from the community, clarifying that there may be scenarios of a "unique game not [being] right for all devices."
@pcgamer Just clarifying could be unique game not right for all devices. Intent to bring our franchises to Win10 & XB1 is unchanged.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 7, 2016
To what extent, though, Spencer did not specify but as always, we'll keep you posted.
Screenshots of the prior and succeeding article may be viewed below:
