At their E3 Media Briefing, Microsoft announced a new platform feature for developers called Xbox Game Preview.
The new service allows large and small developers alike to launch games that are essentially unfinished as a way to test not only the game’s code, but also the world’s reaction to the title. An extended beta program, if you will, rather than one that is for a short period of time.
Gamers would opt into each game they’d like to preview, but they would have to pay for access; this isn’t a free ride. To make things easier for players, however, Microsoft has instituted a rule that every game in the program must have a free trial before exchanging any coin for product. There aren’t many details on how long this demo period must be at this time.
Xbox Game Preview is available now to all who are part of the company’s dashboard preview program, and it will launch to the rest of the Xbox One community later this Fall with the system’s major update.
While nothing has been announced at this time, we expect the program to also migrate to the Windows 10 since virtually everything else seems to be cross-platform between the two by now!