Xbox Scarlett aiming to support Play Anywhere

Microsoft is aiming to expand its Xbox Play Anywhere scheme to Xbox Scarlett.

Currently, Xbox Play Anywhere digital titles enable owners to play them on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC, with saves and achievements transferred between the two platforms.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer told Stevivor the plan is to extend this functionality to Microsoft’s next-gen console, Xbox Scarlett, when it launches next year.

“That’s our goal,” he said. “Our goal for our first-party games is that your entitlements will be cross-generation and your Achievements will move effectively with your save game because that’s where they stand.”

Spencer said Microsoft hopes to make the transition from this generation to the next a smoother experience than it was moving from Xbox 360 to Xbox One.

“[Xbox] 360 to One shouldn’t have been [two self-contained silos] either. We talked about how important digital was going to be this generation, and yet we didn’t move the digital purchases that you’d made on 360 seamlessly over to Xbox One. I always thought that was a miss.”

Spencer also said he’s hopeful third parties will follow in Microsoft’s footsteps when it comes to enabling their games to be played across different platforms but that ultimately, it’s out of his hands.

“I think for all of us the more a game can be the game and your players can play that game in the different places they want to play it and remain that their [save] state and everything is with them is a good thing.”

In another recent interview, Spencer pledged not to repeat the mistakes the company made with Xbox One’s troubled launch.

“I would say a learning from the Xbox One generation is we will not be out of position on power or price,” he said. “If you remember the beginning of this generation we were a hundred dollars more expensive and yes, we were less powerful.”

Microsoft announced in June that Xbox Scarlett will launch holiday 2020 alongside Halo Infinite. The company said at the time: “When you can move through worlds without waiting for screens to load, that speed, that performance is what the next generation’s about.”

Spencer has also said Microsoft is prioritising improved frame rates and playability over graphical enhancements for Xbox Scarlett.