Microsoft stunned absolutely no one when it revealed Xbox Play Anywhere at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. At least, the company is giving folks a bit of a shock with its release details. Rather than remaining vague about the program’s launch, Microsoft confirmed Xbox Play Anywhere launches in September.
To be more specific, Microsoft confirmed to Polygon that it plans to launch Xbox Play Anywhere on September 13th, around the same time it plans to begin the busy gaming season with new titles in its exclusive line-up of games. Xbox Play Anywhere is Microsoft’s attempt at translating its console gaming ecosystem to PCs running Windows 10.
Xbox Play Anywhere comes later this summer.
For users, how the program works is pretty straightforward. They purchase a digital version of ReCore on Xbox One and they unlock a companion version that’s available absolutely free. Users get to download this version of the game directly from Microsoft’s Windows Store. Purchases and game saves work between the different versions of the game. Microsoft is hoping that the move will bring more gamers to its ecosystem. Some have even speculated that Xbox Play Anywhere is the latest part of a strategy to give users the option to experience Xbox Live on whatever device they have at that moment. The company released the Xbox on Windows app last year.
Trick is, only those with Windows 10 installed on their PC can take advantage of the Windows download that they get as part of the program. Additionally, Microsoft is the only publisher that’s participating in the program; other publishers haven’t announced any titles for it yet. That makes sense given most publishers would probably prefer to sell users two copies of a game — one for PC and another for Xbox — rather than selling just a single copy.
Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, ReCore, Sea of Thieves, Halo Wars 2, Scalebound, Killer Instinct Season 3, State of Decay 2, Ark: Survival Evolved, Cuphead, We Happy Few and Crackdown 3 are all part of the program.