Xbox One: Cross-Buy And Cross-Save Feature Coming To Microsoft

Microsoft has announced its plans to make cross functionality between its Xbox One gaming system and Windows 10 PC operating system a standard practice within its gaming ventures.

First announced for the game Quantum Break, developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Microsoft, cross buy and cross save features would allow gamers to diversify how they play a game. Instead of relying on one console to play games, the gamer would be allowed to save his or her game on the console and pick up where he or she left off on a Windows 10 PC, and vice versa.

For parents, this is a fantastic way to keep their gamers from hogging the television, but still allowing him or her to continue playing with minimal interruption.

Although introduced for Quantum Break, cross-buy and cross-save is the future of Xbox gaming. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer announced his excitement about the cross-platform capabilities, but not without questions from his gaming customers. In a tweet, Spencer was asked about third party games, according to Gamespot. Spencer’s response was vague, but left the capability open to all developers that create games for his console and PC platform.

“We’ll make it a platform feature. We think it’s good for gamers.”

Some Xbox One gamers were concerned that using the cross-buy and cross-save feature would require the purchase of two copies of the game, one for each platform. Therefore, the feature would potentially cost the gamer twice as much as normal to use. However, Spencer was quick to reassure gamers that buying two copies of the game would not be required. Instead, according to Yahoo News, gamers would buy the game only once and receive two copies in the package that can be played anywhere.

For the gamer, Microsoft’s news is revolutionary in the gaming world for multiple reasons. First, buying the game only once will not only save money for the gamer (it is unknown if there will be a price increase on the games), but it will allow flexibility in the Xbox One’s library to play nearly everywhere, assuming the PC has the power to play the games. Next, the decision to implement cross-buy and cross-save will bring PC versions of the games out much sooner than normal. In many cases, the PC version comes out only after the game is considered a hit. Games that are released on PC early are usually those with a proven history on the market. Finally, using Windows 10 as the developing platform of choice will potentially allow the games forward compatibility to upcoming versions of Xbox and Windows platforms, allowing their backwards compatibility much easier to implement.

It is important to note that cross-buy and cross-save is not a new feature. In fact, Playstation implemented the feature on its PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita consoles. However, poor Vita sales proved to be fatal for the capability, and it was soon dead in the water. In contrast, Windows 10 is installed on over 200 million PCs across the world, making the capability much easier to enforce.

There are concerns with the cross-buy and cross-save capabilities. Namely, why purchase an Xbox One if the game will readily be available on PC, which many already own? One angry gamer stated that he cancelled his Quantum Break pre-order simply because of the decision. However, the PC specs needed to play many of the games are not readily available unless the gamer owns a gaming PC. Whereas, the Xbox One is made specifically for gaming. Therefore, it is doubtful that Xbox One sales will decrease due to the decision, but upgrades to current PCs and the purchase of new gaming PCs may increase to accommodate the implementation of the cross-buy and cross-save feature.

What are your thoughts?

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