There have been plans to begin making original programming that would be exclusive to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles from Microsoft. Now it seems that these plans are finally starting to crystallize into something real and the company expects that people will be able to start watching original programming on their gaming consoles in early 2014.
During an industry breakfast in Los Angeles on Monday, Microsoft's president of entertainment and digital, Nancy Tellem said the planned program to put original TV programming on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One gaming consoles now has a tentative launch date of early 2014.
According to Variety, Tellem acknowledged the process to get the new shows up and running on the consoles has been moving at a slower pace than they expected.
"We're hoping we will be able to put something up in the first quarter, at minimum second quarter," she said.
"We aren't Netflix, we aren't Amazon, we're a different animal," Tellem continued. "We're neither or we're a little like them. It all depends. The lack of black and white and this is the template and this is what we're following is very difficult. As we continue to do deals everyone's going to get more comfortable."
The company had originally announced its plans for original TV programming during its Xbox One reveal earlier this year. At the time, Steven Spielberg was in the works to produce a TV series inspired by one of the Xbox's most successful exclusive titles, "Halo." Following that news, back in Oct. a second show focused on the life of real-life street soccer players was announced by the company.
Tell us what you think, does the inclusion of original programming give you insentive to purchase an Xbox One over a PlayStation 4 or Wii U this holiday season? Do you think gaming consoles have any business getting into the original TV programming business at all? Comment and share your thoughts on the matter with us below.
