Themes And Screenshots Coming To Xbox One, Says Xbox Boss Phil Spencer

If you’ve been hoping to spruce up your Xbox One dashboard, Phil Spencer says that your wait will eventually come to a close. Themes, a staple of the Xbox 360 since early in that system’s life, will be making the jump to Xbox One.

Spencer made an appearance on The Inner Circle podcast to discuss the current state of the Xbox One and its future. In addition to aesthetic customization features, Spencer also confirmed that the ability to take screenshots will be headed to Microsoft’s new-gen system.

You can listen to the entire podcast via the embedded video above (the cited section begins at about 37 minutes). For more on Microsoft, check out our coverage of the Xbox One from Gamescom.

[Source: The Inner Circle via Joystiq]

Our Take
Screenshots with social media integration for sharing needs to be a priority for Microsoft, because the company is losing the battle for mindshare. Every time someone shares a screenshot from PlayStation 4, a “#PS4Share” hashtag is added. Even if that’s deleted, there is a strong likelihood that the user interface will make it clear it’s a PS4 shot.

Each one of those impressions reinforces the PlayStation brand, and Microsoft needs to start recapturing some of those opportunities. When Christmas rolls around, having that kind of presence on social media is going to be crucial. I hope Microsoft is ready with the feature by that point.