45+ new apps for Xbox coming this year, including live TV-integrated Twitter app, Vine, HBO GO
Twitter, Vine, HBO GO, ShowTime Anytime, Comedy Central, and MLG among More Than 45 New Experiences Coming to Xbox — Today, just five days from the Xbox: Game On briefing at E3 …
Context & Ripple Effects
Xbox has been building entertainment services into its console platform since its first wave of TV shows and movies in 2006, then expanded to 40 services, live TV and Kinect controls in a 2011 Xbox Live upgrade. HBO GO was already among the services available on Xbox Live in 2012, making the 2014 lineup an expansion of a long-running effort to make Xbox a destination beyond games.
The addition of a live-TV-integrated Twitter experience, Vine, subscription-video brands and MLG ties social activity, video and gaming programming to the same screen and account environment.
First-order effects
- Xbox gains more than 45 planned apps and experiences for 2014, giving Twitter, Vine, HBO GO, Showtime Anytime, Comedy Central and MLG a new console distribution channel.
- Xbox users are positioned to access social, live-TV and video services alongside games rather than through separate devices.
Second-order effects
- Entertainment providers on Xbox must compete for viewing time inside a catalog Microsoft has expanded repeatedly, including HBO GO and MLB.TV availability in 2012.
- Twitter's live-TV integration gives the service a role around television viewing on Xbox, while video and gaming-media apps compete to become the companion experience for that audience.
Third-order effects
- The expanding app roster reinforces the console-to-service flywheel: a broader service catalog can make the Xbox platform more useful between game purchases and gives content providers another route to the living room.
- If Xbox keeps adding major services, console competition increasingly extends beyond hardware and game libraries to the breadth and integration of media platforms.
The trend: Game consoles are being developed into multi-service living-room platforms where social, video and gaming media reinforce the hardware ecosystem.