Phil Spencer loves acronyms. Since about the middle of last year, his two favorite ones have been UWA (“Universal Windows Apps”) and UWP (“Universal Windows Platform”). While they don’t sound like much to the Xbox One layman, these are the two terms that will define the future of Microsoft’s console.
In a tweet today, Spencer wrote, “We will discuss our next steps with the Universal Windows Platform at //build later this month.”
Build, of course, is Microsoft’s annual developer’s conference, and the Universal Windows Platform is the unified coding language that will allows developers to create working apps for both the Xbox One and Windows 10 without any extra modification.
It makes sense that Microsoft would choose Build to unveil more about UWP, but what that means for gamers is that we might finally see a huge influx of new apps for both Xbox One later this month.
Microsoft debuted the first true Windows 10 app on Xbox One for the first time at Mobile World Congress last year, but since then has been tight-lipped on when gamers could expect the Xbox Store to fill up with new apps.
So far, it hasn’t happened.
The Universal Windows Platform has taken some flak in the past few months from both developers and users who claim that the Windows 10 version of the store is unorganized, barren and/or not beneficial to consumers.
Epic Games co-founder Tim Sweeney equated the Universal Windows Platform to Apple’s App Store. Meanwhile, gamers took up arms against the platform a few weeks ago when the Windows 10 Store supplied them with a staggeringly restricted version of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Some good news from Spencer at Build, either on how Microsoft is working to improve the platform or exactly when we’ll see Windows 10 apps on Xbox One, will assuage some of the community’s fears.
Microsoft’s Build conference will be held March 30 to April 1 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.
Via The Verge
Source: techradar.com