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Microsoft plans to make Xbox Play Anywhere cross-gen

Xbox Play Anywhere will be extended to the next generation of consoles.

Xbox Play Anywhere, Microsoft's cross-device compatibility suite that allows players to buy the game once and own it on all Microsoft platforms, with saves and achievements carrying over between devices, won't be abandoned when the next generation rolls out.

For example, a game like Halo Infinite, which is launching on three platforms (PC, Xbox One, Xbox Scarlett) will be the first to bring Play Anywhere to new consoles.

"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," Xbox head Phil Spencer told Stevivor at X019.

Cover image for YouTube video

To Spencer, it's making up for the poor transition between Xbox 360 and Xbox One. "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," he said.

"I always thought that was a miss. When we did [Xbox 360 backwards compatibility], one of the things the team really focused on was you don’t have to re-buy the games. In fact, when [backwards compatibility] started working it was cool because just in your collection the 360 games would start showing up because you have the digital entitlement there."

Spencer obviously didn't talk specifics as far as next-gen. We still don't know if games would need to be approved in batches in order to work on Scarlett, or if everything is going to seamlessly transition.

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Halo Infinite

Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC

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Sherif Saed

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Sherif (he/him) is VG247’s go-to shooter and Souls-likes person. Whether it’s news, reviews, or op-eds – Sherif is always eager to tell you about video games. He's one of VG247's most veteran writers, with 10+ years experience on the site.

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