Late in 2016, Microsoft announced the Windows 10 Creators Update, a sprawling refresh for the operating system it first unleashed in 2015. To kick off the new year, the company finally revealed what gamers and entertainment lovers can expect when the Windows 10 Creators Update reaches the Xbox One and Xbox on Windows. As you can expect, there’s a lot of talk of streaming and a faster interface.
It was in a blog post on Xbox Wire late last week that Microsoft shared gaming details on the Windows 10 Creators Update. We only knew that Microsoft planned to introduce support for Beam streaming. Beam is the Twitch/YouTube Gaming competitor that Microsoft purchased last year too. “Streaming, performance and competition” is what Microsoft is focusing on. There’s a Bill Clinton related joke about triangulation to be made from this, but I’ll spare you.
Both Xbox One and Windows 10 will get Beam support, meaning users will have the option to livestream in-game footage and have their audience do things like vote on what they should do next. On Windows 10, Microsoft is building in Beam to the Game Bar hat surfaces when you press the Windows Key and G. The Xbox One will have the setting built into the Guide.
Xbox on Windows users will get something Microsoft is calling Game Mode. When enabled, Game Mode will focus all of a PC’s resources on getting the best visuals in the game, Microsoft says.
Speaking of the Guide, Microsoft is promising to make the Guide the destination for everything that you want to do. Instead of being a pane that slides out from the left side of your display, it’ll be an overlay. Updates to Clubs, Friends, the Activity Feed and Looking for Group are all planned. Arena will finally get the ESL and FACEIT competitions that Microsoft hinted at with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update for Xbox One. Microsoft says that gamers will be able to create their own Arena matches.
The Windows 10 Creators Update should arrive on Windows PCs sometime this spring. As for when the Xbox portion of all this can be expected, we don’t yet know.
