Microsoft to roll out Xbox app, Xbox One streaming on PC

Forming part of Microsoft’s plans for Windows 10 on PC, an Xbox app will help unify the gaming experience across the two platforms, while a streaming service will allow Xbox One games to show up on network-connected computers. The upcoming “Fable Legends,” currently anticipated for later in 2015, will be used as an example of cross-platform possibilities that lie between Xbox One and Windows 10. A statement published by Xbox’s wire service promised “the same game, in the same world, on the same map” for players on Windows 10 and Xbox One machines. With Windows 10 going into its public beta testing phase, an update to the Xbox One’s Windows-based app environment has also been announced, intended to allow interaction between the two. A new Windows 10 Xbox app is also set for deployment in tablet and mobile device formats, offering “a unified view of the games you care about, your friends, and your gaming activities.” Games, Friends, Messages, Activity Feed, and Achievements have been given the nod to appear within the app’s confines, though there’s no mention of a digital marketplace. Keen to take advantage of interest in game-play recording, Windows 10 will integrate a straight-to-DVR function allowing users to record, edit and share, inviting them to use Microsoft’s baked-in alternatives to popular free or low-budget software solutions in use today. And just as PC users can use Steam’s service to stream games from one computer to another within the same network, PlayStation fans can stream PS4 games to a handheld Vita, and Wii U owners can play using just the tablet controller, Xbox One owners will be able to funnel games through a data connection to an attached Windows 10 PC. AFP