Xbox today revealed a completely revamped Microsoft Store is coming soon and will even be available to some Xbox Insiders as early as this week. According to the company, the new store is twice as fast as the old one, launching in under two seconds, and features better overall performance, discovery, navigation, and more. In short, it's a total overhaul.
"Far more than a typical app update, we've rebuilt the experience from the ground up to be faster, safer and easier to use than ever before," writes Cody Bird, Principal Program Manager at Xbox, in the Xbox Wire post announcing the redesign. "We're obsessed with getting it right for customers, and we can't wait for you to see what we've been working on."
Other updates include improved filtering, revamped Wish Lists, updated shopping carts, and some serious improvements on parental controls. For example, in the new store, folks will need to be signed in to browse. Content rated beyond the set level isn't available for viewing anywhere in the store, but those in charge can make exceptions for specific games and so on. As part of this, content ratings will also be more prominently visible in several ways.
As noted above, the new Microsoft Store on Xbox will be available in beta beginning on Wednesday, August 5th, for some Xbox Insiders. No release date to the wider public has been announced as of yet. The Xbox Series X, the company's next-gen console, is set to launch later this year with a nebulous "Holidays 2020" window attached. You can check out all of our previous coverage of Xbox right here.
What do you think about the Microsoft Store overhaul on Xbox? Are you excited to see how it really compares in use to the previous version? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming! And keep reading to check out several images of the new Microsoft Store experience on Xbox!
