Microsoft Enters The TV Market With Xbox Originals

Starting June, Microsoft is going to be even more present in your living room with its foray into the TV market via Xbox Originals. This move is basically Microsoft attempting to make another mark in home entertainment by taking the use of the Xbox to a whole new level. Forget “just” gaming, with Xbox Originals, you can watch dramas, comedies, documentaries, animation, unscripted shows, and live events.

Xbox Wire announced the arrival of Xbox Originals in a blog post yesterday, stating that this content will be available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and other Microsoft devices. More than offering original shows, however, the new service is going to be interactive and customized depending on each show. The goal is apparently to make watching more than a passive experience.

Microsoft also says that it is tapping into Hollywood talent:

Xbox Entertainment Studios has attracted a slew of top Hollywood talent to develop its original programming slate, with names like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott attached to two separate scripted projects based on the “Halo” franchise – but that’s only the beginning. Other shows in production include an unscripted series about international street soccer, an original drama about robotic servants in a dystopian world, and a documentary about the search for discarded Atari games in a desert landfill – which were unearthed yesterday in New Mexico – amongst several others.

Name dropping aside, those two figures have reached iconic status, and they do lend some excitement to the idea of Xbox Originals.

The home entertainment scene is not an easy one to break into, what with all the services like Netflix launching their own original TV series that have caught the attention of people the world over. The question is if Xbox Originals will cost you – or perhaps, how much it will cost you.

Learn more about Xbox Originals and already committed series here.

[Image via Xbox Wire]