Xbox Live is primarily used in Microsoft’s consoles and Windows or Windows Phone games for achievements, friend lists, and game matchmaking. While Microsoft has experimented withachievements on iOSandAndroidrecently, the company is planning to push Xbox Live cross-platform in a big way soon. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tellThe Vergethat Microsoft is building a platform to extend Xbox Live functionality to iOS and Android games. Some details of these plans were first revealed in a recentMicrosoft job posting.
“We will create a modern framework that is open-source, lightweight, extensible and scalable across various platforms including Windows Store, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android,” reads the job listing. Microsoft is aiming to “win back” game developers from its competitors by making Xbox Live a lot easier to integrate into apps and games. Xbox Live, in its current state, requires certification and permission from Microsoft, but in the future the company is planning to have fewer restrictions and better tools for game developers to integrate the functionality into titles.