Microsoft is overhauling the Xbox app in Windows 10 in preparation for what the company claims will be “a new desktop experience”.
The biggest change is the name – the app will now be called the Xbox Console Companion, and a message from Microsoft says it will be "a dedicated app for your Xbox console’s features and settings”.
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We didn’t think there was anything wrong with the name of the Xbox app – it was nice and concise – but Microsoft’s change of name possibly hints at the company’s future plans for how Windows PCs and the Xbox One – and its successor, the Xbox Two (or whatever it will be called) – will work together.
New experience
The “new desktop experience” Microsoft promises with the Xbox Console Companion app is intriguing. As the Verge points out (opens in new tab), the Game Bar feature in Windows 10 has been recently updated, which includes features that make the Xbox app in its current form feel a bit redundant.
Microsoft is expected to reveal more information about its next Xbox console at E3 2019, with the company holding an event on June 9. The new Xbox Console Companion could be laying the groundwork for connecting the new console to Windows 10 PCs.
This follows Phil Spencer, executive vice-president of Gaming at Microsoft, recently reiterating the company’s commitment to PC gaming. Could the new Xbox Console Companion app be its way of bringing console and PC gamers closer together? Hopefully, we won’t have long to find out.
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