Microsoft’s Xbox Live network is officially making its way onto iOS and Android.
The company revealed today that it is launching a new SDK that will allow mobile developers to add Xbox Live functionality to their games, giving gamers the ability to score achievements on the go.
Apple tried to turn its Game Center app into the iOS equivalent of Xbox Live, but it hasn’t been nearly as successful. With the new addition of Xbox Live on iOS gives gamers better cross-platform play similar to the way Epic broke new ground by bringing cross-platform play to its hit game Fortnite.
Xbox Live comes to iOS
“We believe so strongly in community, and Xbox Live really being at the heart of our gaming community,” explained Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft’s gaming cloud chief, in an interview with The Verge. “If you watch what we’ve done, especially with Minecraft, over the past few years we’ve taken Xbox Live to as many platforms as Minecraft is on as possible. Really uniting all those communities together with a consistent singular experience for those gamers.”
Microsoft already allowed some iOS and Android games to have Xbox Live Achievements enabled through titles in Microsoft Studios. The new Xbox Live SDK for mobile opens up the functionality to even more games.
Last month it was reported that Xbox Live would be coming to the Nintendo Switch but that doesn’t appear to be the case yet. Choudhry told The Verge that there aren’t any announcements to be about Xbox Live coming to the Switch or PS4 at this time.
Microsoft will reveal more details on the Xbox Live SDK at its annual Game Developers Conference kicks on March 18.
