Microsoft details social features of Xbox One Friends app
Microsoft has revealed that it will introduce a number of social features to its upcoming Xbox One console, including community achievements, a Twitter-style feed and the ability to follow professional gamers.
This was divulged by means of a YouTube video which offers a tutorial on the consoles Friends app, showing how gamers can add up to 1,000 friends and then observe what content they are currently playing by way of a live activity feed.
What’s more players will also be able to follow other gamers who are not friends, revealing basic information about the player such as in-game achievements and hi-scores but no personal information.
Explaining how this would work in practice Xbox Live program manager Rob Lehew said: "A great driver in 'Forza Motorsport 5,' for example, could have a huge group of thousands or even millions of followers all tracking their performance in-game. Those followers can have this driver on their personal leaderboard so that they can constantly keep track of how they stack-up, and they can potentially connect online with the driver to get into a race with him."
An update to the Achievements system, which rewards gamers with points for completing certain tasks, will also be implemented allowing a greater focus on mass participation whereby groups of players collaborate to complete an objective within a limited time.
Microsoft is set to release the Xbox One in the UK on 22 November.