The newly-christened Xbox Play Anywhere program, which enables those that purchase any Microsoft-published title on Xbox One to play the same game for free on Windows 10 (or vice versa), will support all future first party titles released on both platforms, the company’s CVP of Windows & Devices group Yusuf Mehdi has confirmed.
In a post on the official Windows blog last week detailing the changes coming with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Mehdi said:
With the Xbox Play Anywhere program, you can buy a game once and play on your Windows 10 PC and Xbox One with shared progress, shared game saves and shared achievements. Every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store.
A handful of titles will be supported by the program when it goes live alongside the launch of action-adventure ReCore, with the likes of Scalebound, Halo Wars 2, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 3 and Gears of War 4 all to be included when they release on their respective dates.
Assuming Xbox Play Anywhere is to become an all encompassing service for every future Xbox/Windows 10 exclusive, it probably means the likes of Forza Motorsport 7 and Halo 6 will also join it when they reach the hands of the public. However, don’t expect the software giant to retroactively add existing games to the system any time soon – we’ve already been told numerous times that Halo 5: Guardians won’t be coming to PC.
Be aware too, that Xbox Play Anywhere will strictly only apply to games bought digitally.