Xbox Live has long been a fixture of the Xbox and Windows space, but it looks like Microsoft has its sights on making the service even more widely available. In a now-deleted description for a Game Developers Conference 2019 panel, Microsoft seemingly let slip that Xbox Live is heading to Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms.
The listing page for the GDC panel presented by Microsoft has been largely scrubbed clean following the leak; the current title "Xbox Live: Growing & Engaging Your Gaming Community Across Platforms" used to include "Across iOS, Android, Switch, Xbox, and PC." Polygon captured the description of the panel before it was removed, which once read "Xbox Live is expanding from 400M gaming devices and a reach to [sic] over 68M active players to over 2B devices with the release of our new cross-platform XDK."
While the old panel info didn't provide any hard-and-fast launch date or in-depth details (surely planned for the panel itself), it did mention how users will be able to view their Xbox Live achievements, friends lists, clubs, and more from their Switch or their phones. "Get a first look at the SDK to enable game developers to connect players between iOS, Android, and Switch in addition to Xbox and any game in the Microsoft Store on Windows PCs," it read. At the moment, it seems like the cross-platform version of the app would be mostly limited to social features, but for Microsoft to even consider bringing its Xbox Live brand to Switch is certainly a surprise.
Microsoft has supported cross-platform play in the past, which has been a boon for third-party multiplayer games like Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League. Microsoft and Nintendo even teamed up recently for last year's "Better Together" Minecraft trailer, which essentially dunked on the absentee PlayStation in a time when Sony was still cold on cross-platform play.
When asked for comment, a Microsoft spokesperson told us that there's "nothing additional to share at this time" regarding this in-the-works XDK. We'll have to wait until GDC 2019 to find out what Microsoft has plans for the now-spoiled big reveal, but it's an exciting time for people who want to stay connected regardless of their preferred platform of play.
For more feel-good, cross-platform play, here's how to enable cross-platform Fortnite matches for PS4, Xbox, PC, and Switch.
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