Following the recent delay, Microsoft has divulged some information regarding the status of Twitch steaming on the Xbox One. The functionality, which was an absent feature at launch, has become a core feature of the eight generation of consoles, with the gaming community embracing the service en masse. In terms of Microsoft’s system, however, it’s been announced that the integration is still a “few months away”.
Xbox One Direct Broadcasting: There is no ETA at this time from Microsoft. Expect a few more months. If we know sooner, we’ll update.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchTVSupport) January 8, 2014
It’s worth nothing that users have still been able to access the Twitch app on Xbox One hitherto, however, the feature is currently limited to spectatorship only. Elsewhere, Microsoft confirmed at CES that it is also preparing to roll out the first major update for the new hardware, which is aimed at fine-tuning the system’s ‘Live Experience’.
“As a person who’s been pretty involved in building Xbox Live for the last decade,” said Mark Whitten, Xbox’s Chief Product Officer. “I take it pretty seriously when people say it’s harder to get into a party, and the defaults aren’t right, and I don’t like the model.”
Essentially, this minor overhaul will streamline the console’s user interface, thereby bringing some of the hidden social to the fore. Given the dense and multi-layered nature of the Xbox One’s Dashboard, it was rather inevitable that certain features would be buried underneath a horde of menus and sub-menus. Still, word that Microsoft is making the home screen more accessible is welcome news.
Finally, Whitten confirmed that this update in particular will roll out within the next few weeks. Tell us, are you disappointed that the Twitch streaming functionality wasn’t implemented sooner? Indeed do you think it will appear on the Xbox One before E3? Let us know below.
