WindowsCentralin haastattelu, jonka kohteena Mike Ybarra:
Ybarra avaa mm. uusien pelistudioden tilannetta, mistä täälläkin oli aiemmin sivuilla keskustelua. Muutamia poimintoja:
How much creative freedom will those new studios have? How will Xbox utilize them in its portfolio?
We're on the cusp of two billion people playing games right now, and we think that's going to double to four billion in the next five years. We have to globalize in terms of our approach to that. You'll see us looking around the globe for the best studios. We're looking for that creativity, we're looking for teams that have shown that they can create amazing compelling experiences. It's really about their innovation, creative freedom, across all types of games. We want to bring that to our gamers on Xbox.
Creative freedom was one of the most important pillars in the conversations we had with these developers. We're not dictating what they do and when they do it. We want creative ideas
from them. We picked those studios because they've shown they can create those ideas and those experiences that customers want.
Speaking of PC ... where's keyboard and mouse support for Xbox?
There are a few games that support keyboard and mouse on Xbox, such as Minecraft. It's in the SDK for developers building for UWP, but whether we expand that out more broadly ... it's something we're gathering feedback on. There are a lot of features that customers and gamers want, and we've been focusing on things like first-party games and Game Pass, innovating with things like Fast Start, and it's all about prioritization.
Another thing that was announced for Xbox that has never materialized is VR and Windows Mixed Reality. Is VR for Xbox dead?
Our investment for VR remains on Windows PC for now. Our MR headsets work with SteamVR on PC now, there are a few games out there with Xbox Achievements in Windows Mixed Reality. That's where our prioritization lies in that space, for now.
Speaking of AI, can you give us some details on how Fast Start works? (pelien imurointi)
It's an AI system that sees how games install and play, taking that data, then building a delivery strategy in real-time for new installs. It will find the parts of the package that need to be installed upfront to play the earlier parts of the game. We'll know what parts the game expects to have installed to run the first 10 minutes and beyond. Instead of having to download all of the game, or 75 percent of the game, our AI will begin to understand what pieces are needed, and we'll prioritize those at our level, not the developer's level, to make sure those bits are on gamer's systems, allowing customers to go right into the game as fast as possible.
Koko haastettelu luettavissa täältä:
Xbox exec Mike Ybarra on Fast Start, 'Career mode,' cloud, and the future (Q&A)
Digital Foundryn analyysi Xboxin E3 2018 tapahtumasta: