Xbox Play Anywhere lets you buy a game once and play it on both Xbox One and PC

by Madalina Dinita
Madalina Dinita
Madalina Dinita
Windows & Software Expert
Madalina has been a Windows fan ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP computer. She is interested in all things technology, especially emerging technologies... read more
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Microsoft is taking another step towards erasing platform-related barriers with the introduction of Xbox Play Anywhere, a new Xbox Live feature that allows you to digitally buy your favorite game once and play it across Xbox One and Windows 10.

Microsoft revealed this feature when it introduced Gears of War 4 on Windows 10 at E3. All major games will most likely support this feature but for the time being only a few games are compatible with Xbox Play Anywhere: Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Halo Wars 2, State of Decay 2, Killer Instinct Season 3, Crackdown 3 and a few more.

The games compatible with this feature will be marked in the Xbox Store and in the Windows Store with the Xbox Play Anywhere icon.

Your progress, game add-ons, and achievements will be saved on your Xbox Live account and then shared across both platforms at no additional cost. Today you can play Gears of War 4 on your Windows 10 PC, and tomorrow you can play it on your Xbox One: it’s that simple. Of course, you cannot be signed into the same game on both platforms at the same time.

No additional rewards are available if you use the Xbox Play Anywhere feature as its main role is to allow gamers to play their favorite games on both platforms. A single shared set of gamerscore and achievements is available, but co-op mode does not support cross-play between Xbox One and Windows 10 gamers.

To take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere, you need to install the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition update on your PC as well as the latest update on your Xbox One console. You can then log into your Xbox Live/Microsoft account and  download your Xbox Play Anywhere games.

As a reminder, Xbox Play Anywhere only applies to digital games: physical games don’t support this feature.

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