Microsoft shows off Windows 8 apps running on Xbox One, states devs get a head start by starting now

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While Microsoft's Build 2013 conference continues to reveal more goodies about Windows 8, there has also been some talk regarding the upcoming Xbox One. Today Steve Guggenheimer, vice president of Microsoft's Developer and Platform Evangelism group, teased some rather large hints at how developers will be able to develop for both Windows and Xbox One in the future.

"Xbox one has two engines, it's got a gaming engine and it essentially has a Windows 8 engine," said Guggenheimer, referring to the new Xbox One architecture that essentially runs Windows 8. Guggenheimer demonstrated remote debugging of a basic web app that appeared to be running on an Xbox One, but had nothing to announce today. He did go on to encourage developers to develop Windows 8 apps in order to build content for the Xbox One.

"If you want to know about how to get a head start about thinking about developing for Xbox One, the logical thing to do is go build Windows 8 applications."

While the development platform is still unclear for the Xbox One, Microsoft has stated the console will support both native and web apps. We could assume developers may be required to work with development tools similar to those used for Windows 8 apps. Microsoft also announced a new partnership with Unity to support all platforms, including Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox One and the Xbox 360. This will help developers easily port games within the ecosystem.

More to follow, we're sure.

via: The Verge

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds

Rich Edmonds is a word conjurer at Windows Central, covering everything related to Windows, gaming, and hardware. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a device chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
43 Comments
  • Now that would be cool. Wonder how touch would work though.
  • Could be similar to using IE on the 360 now where its a mouse/virtual keyboard style setup and/or smartglass.
  • Good point Coan. I was thinking you could possibly use the new Kinect as an option. Kinda like the way Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds work now on the 360. Realistically though, Smartglass is the better option.
  • Or both.  I mean, out of the box, or any situation where you do not wish to take your eyes off the big screen, Kinect makes the most sense.  But if you happen to have a tablet or smartphone around (not everyone does yet), then SmartGlass would almost always become the obvious choice.  
     
    My big question is cross-platform interpolation.  If I am using a Windows Phone, or more specifically, a Windows 8 tablet, and have the same app running natively, then what kind of cool stuff can we expect, that would go over and beyond the general SmartGlass experience?
  • Great notice :-) Microsoft is creating a larger surface for monetization of developers and partners. There's a whole lot of serious energy and brains going on at MS. I've been developing on Windows for just about 20 years now; this is a whole new Microsoft innovating. It's very exciting!
  • on a desktop computer without a touch screen, Leap Motion has you covered. On the Xbox One, the Kinect does the job.
    If you have an Xbox1 now, the Kinect gives you a good idea of what's to come.
  • The Unity deal could be huge for XBLA style games. Write once, run everyone!
  • Now make sure buying an app on w8 will make it free on the console!
  • Real Talk! I don't like how they triple dip now as it is with one game on 3 systems. If I buy it on my Lumia, I don't wanna pay for it again on the xbox or laptop (especially if they share data)!
  • Depending on the app, I think it would make more sense for the developer to be able to charge say $1 for their app per platform or $1.50 for all platforms (obviously all Microsoft platforms).
  • I can see things like, buy the first platform for the full price and get the other ones for like 50% of the original price. That would help the ecosystem and the devs. And for the developers, if such a system will get reality you will have to plan that of course, meaning setting the price up. That's bad for people on only one platform, but the goal is bringing people to all the platforms either way. Same thing on iOS atm, but not on the Mac, as far as I know. That would be a huge step though (with the 50%, more or less, method).
  • I read this time and time again, and its fine from a consumer prospective. But as a developer, I spend a few months working on a WP game and release it. Then I might spend a solid month working on the win8 version, then have to update each version independently. A lot of work goes in to having a version for each platform. So buying on one and free on the other platform is no encouragement for developers at all. If you want devs to release across all platforms then this model just won't work. However depending on how close the win8 and Xbox one development is, that may be a different story
  • Game for windows phone 7 or 8?
  • I develop for WP7, port to WP8 then on to Win8.
    I really do hope that there isn't much work involved to get your Win8 stuff running on Xbox one. Not only would they hopefully push the purchase once method across those 2 systems, but then hopefully stuff that is developed by dev's to run on the win8 side of the xbox will also run on Windows 8 pc's and tablets - making Windows 8 a more viable option to develop for if you can target 2 systems at once with minimal changes.
    Oh the possibilities!
     
  • Why not both? At least for another 2 years (by then, majority of WP7 will be on 8).
  • I do both. And I support my WP7 stuff just as much as I do WP8 stuff. WP7 users made my business what it is today afterall, so can't just drop them :)
  • at the MS events I have been to they make it perfectly clear that the goal is one code base for all 3 screens (XBox, WP and WinRT) and a slightly different UI for each. The aim is that the code has very minimal changes between all three. I would expect this to be WP9 looking at how thinsg are currently.
    I would expect devs to offer bulk price ie $1 for each device or $1 for all 3 sort of deal but MS will need to change the marketplace to handle that - when it comes it will be great.
  • Because triple dip of a $50 per device, right?
  • I opened up a developer account. "triple dipping" is done by the dev. Write once, play everywhere is Microsoft's model. There are several games and apps you buy once and play on your phone, RT, Surface Pro, Windows 8, and Xbox. It depends on the developer. There are pro's and cons to this beyond the three payments. We'll have to see how it develops but I think that will change over time. You wont stay competetive selling three versions of the same app if your competition is only charging for things once. Give it time.
  • Awesome possum!! 
  • Hey Paul! I told you. I win the bet. 
  • LOL how much did you two bet?
  • He bet him a trip to Hawaii, serious cash, or an Xbox One. Tell us Sam!
  • I see the future, and the future is Holidays 2013!
  • An Xbmc app for Xbox one would be amazing!!!
    The ultimate media box.
  • I want plex
  • Yes, but it would be very time consuming to port xbmc as it depends on a lot of c++ libs which possibly cannot just be recompiled for win8
  • It will have media capable software. Hopefully they allow network folders instead of stupid media center issues like with existing Xbox 360
  • All of ths is nice, but where was the announcment of self publishing for indie game developers.
  • Yep. If they really want to save face, they need to do this. That's one thing the PS4 holds over the One.
  • delete this!
  • I can run Windows 8 apps on my Ti calculator. This is nothing special.
  • What the?
  • Hey Microsoft! Heard about you somewhere else a time ago
  • I'm surprised there aren't a ton of comments on this. This is huge. I couldn't believe the comments I read on The Verge of all places. Most all are positive.
    This has so much potential, and I think MS should've came out with this sooner, and kept the 24 hour check
  • Agreed. Although I believed this will happen, I'm still excited when they confirmed it. Win8, Xbox, rt, WP... Once they are merged, it will be unbeatable. And this is far more urgent than any other feature
  • This is pretty huge. I wonder if Win8 based games would be allowed.  Even if not, the amount of content available would still be a massive advantage for the Xbox One as an all-in-one system.
  • Awesome, now we are 100% sure the WPCentral app will come to the Xbox One! /s
  • I think the Unity side of things will definately be comfort to the indie scene, and a clever choice. A smart move after could be to work with Unity to replace MonoDevelop with Visual Basic as the default setup or some sort.
  • Now thats what I call an eco- system!!
  • I think the real gem here are the xbox games on windows 8 maybe be playable on the xbox one. Not sure how this would work without touch but SmartGlass seems to be the best option here. This is great news for game developers on mobile platforms... thats for sure
  • I guess I will have to see how it plays out when I get it, I treat consoles as game systems and computers/tablets as different things. If I want intenet TV, I use a Windows Media Center based HTPC, so I can get almost everything I need off that. 
     
    I've actually used the 360 a few times to browse the web and found it took a lot longer to do basic tasks that I could do on a keyboard/mouse or touch screen. The Windows 8 based apps could be the same story.
     
    The new Kinect needs to be PERFECT to make it usable here, not close to perfect, PERFECT to make it better than my Windows 8 tablet. If it takes longer to do something, it's pointless in my eyes because I picked up a tablet for that type of use.
     
    No ?
  • That would be awesome if there was a setting hidden somewhere on the xbox one that opens the store up to all windows 8 apps even ones that werent reprogrammed for increased xbox one usability.
    Could you imagine Torrex, the W8 app, on an xbox one?!?!?!  Wassup?  Not much, just downloading torrents on my xbox.  Cool.