Xbox-Sponsored Developer Sessions at GDC 2016

Microsoft and Xbox are at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco’s Moscone Center and on Wednesday, March 16, Microsoft sponsored six developer sessions, which touched on developing for the Universal Windows Platform, including the newly announced Xbox Live Tournaments Platform.

Xbox Live Tournaments Platform

Our full day of Xbox sessions kicked off with The Future of Xbox Game Development for Windows, where Xbox Group Program Manager Jason Ronald shared that Xbox Live is creating a platform to enable publishers of all sizes to bring eSports competition for all skill levels to the living room on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. Xbox Live has always been about making competitive gaming easier and more accessible. The new Xbox Live Tournaments Platform will provide tools for publishers to deliver an end-to-end solution, including the ability to integrate with top Tournament Organizers. The Universal Windows Platform will enable a cohesive experience across Xbox One and Windows 10 devices.

Publishers can choose to work with any of our Tournament Organizer (TO) partners to help with different aspects of running tournaments, including online event logistics, payouts, sponsorships, and more. There are currently two TOs we have partnered with – FACEIT and ESL – with more to be added soon. The team is thrilled to have the expertise that FACEIT and ESL bring, and hope that this will aid publishers in implementing great competitive gaming content for their games. We’ll have a lot more to share soon so stay tuned.

Additional Developer Sessions at GDC

In a series of additional sessions that ran throughout the rest of the day, Xbox engineers shared details about developing games for the Universal Windows Platform – an open ecosystem available to all developers. They showed ways developers can unlock incredible game performance with DirectX 12, and discussed the opportunities the Xbox and Windows Store will bring for the game marketplace. Speakers also demonstrated how developers can fully take advantage of Xbox Live and the opportunities it enables for gaming across Windows 10 devices.

We are working to create the best gaming experience across Xbox One and Windows 10 devices and are excited about the open opportunities available for developers on the platform. We’ll have a lot more to share in the coming months so stay tuned.