On Monday, Microsoft announced that they were bringing their Xbox Live services to three mobile titles from Gameloft: Asphalt 8: Airborne, Asphalt 9: Legends, and Dragon Mania Legends. This includes leaderboards, friends lists, achievements, and more.
This was kind of swept up under the rug and considered small news to most of the industry. Sure, Microsoft is always trying new things, but his seem like kind of a big deal. If you don’t remember, Microsoft just recently did the same thing with porting over its Xbox exclusive game, Cuphead to the Nintendo Switch with the same Xbox Live services.
We all know that Sony won this generation’s console war with the PS4. So, is Microsoft trying to get a jump on next generation by making its Xbox franchise more of a “live service” than a console? We all saw Microsoft recently reveal its “disc-less” Xbox One S console and there’s been tons of rumors that the next generation Xbox will be disc-less. Throw in Google’s new Stadia “live service” console and this might be what Microsoft is actually up to. A digital service where you can play just about anywhere. Who knows. It’ll be interesting to see at this year’s E3.
For now, keep an eye on Microsoft. They are up to something sneaky! Let the next generation of console wars begin!!
