Microsoft could be looking to offer official game modding support through Xbox Live – at least going by a recent listing posted to its careers page. As reported Wccftech, Microsoft is in search of a "Senior Program Manager" under its Windows and Devices Group, with a focus on leading official mod integration through its gaming network.
Under the role, applicants would be expected to "drive support on Xbox Live for game mods," collaborating with big studios and delivering tools for developers to add modding to their games. With this, Microsoft hopes to foster communities of creators, while enforcing policies to prevent distributing offensive content. Here's a snippet of the listing, which details its plans for mods on Xbox Live.
Team Xbox is looking for you to drive support on Xbox Live for game mods. You will have a unique opportunity to shape and bring to market a new set of services, tools and experiences allowing game developers to easily integrate mods into their games, communities of passionate fans to create and share awesome and engaging content for the games they love, while keeping everyone on the network safe from abusive content.You will work both within Xbox and across organizations, collaborating with UX design teams, experience teams, and service engineering teams from Xbox, first party studios, Universal Store, CELA, Policy Enforcement, and more. You will be required to provide strong leadership, contribute to the overall vision, set clear requirements, scope each phase of market release, and drive for success for our creators and enjoyment by our consumers.
Microsoft is yet to announce plans for an Xbox Live modding solution, yet this job listing outlines exactly that. Although the post doesn't discuss specific platforms, this would be a natural expansion of its Universal Windows Platform (UWP), which hasn't been short of criticism in the past. While the closed nature of UWP is one of its main characteristics, technical issues and limitations have driven away the wider PC gaming community.
Alternatively, work could be underway to expand modding support on the Xbox One – an area of growing interest for some developers. Titles such as Fallout 4, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Special Edition and Farming Simulator 17 all offer their own modding solutions on Xbox One, though such programs are handled almost exclusively by the developers themselves.
For now, we'll have to wait for an official announcement from Microsoft. What do you think of modding support over Xbox Live? Make sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
