Buoyed by a strong and impressive E3 showing, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella – who replaced long-term favorite Steve Ballmer in 2014 – has outlined the primary goals for the future of Xbox One and the publisher in general during a interview with GeekWire.
With the imminent launch of Windows 10 at the tail-end of next month, Nadella touched upon the integration with gaming within the new OS, which will naturally come to fruition in the revised user interface for the Xbox One itself.
“We will pursue our gaming ambition as part of this broader vision for Windows and increase its appeal to consumers,” he said. “We will bring together Xbox Live and our first-party gaming efforts across PC, console, mobile and new categories like HoloLens into one integrated play.”
Beyond software, one of the main focuses in the hardware department will be that of Microsoft’s HoloLens, an augmented reality device that wowed the gaming community last week with its Minecraft-centric demo. While a release date is still to be confirmed, it’s interesting to note that the hardware is a major part of the company’s future planning, and we’re excited to see how it pans out closer to its consumer launch.
All of this will be unified by the Windows template, and though many users felt burned by the middling Windows 8, Nadella believes the operating system can underpin many of these objectives moving forward.
“We will build the best instantiation of this vision through our Windows device platform and our devices, which will serve to delight our customers, increase distribution of our services, drive gross margin, enable fundamentally new product categories, and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly.”
What do you make of Microsoft’s mission statement? Indeed, do you believe the Xbox One has now turned a corner following its tumultuous launch? Let us know your thoughts below.
