Skip to main content

Cortana won’t be available on the Xbox One until next year

Cortana won’t be available on the Xbox One until next year

Share this story

Microsoft is currently testing a new Windows 10-powered dashboard for the Xbox One. While the update includes a number of new features, one of the big additions is Cortana integration. Microsoft has demonstrated how Cortana works in the new dashboard with various videos, but the company is now revealing that it won't be available with the Xbox One update in November. "Our plan is to add Cortana to the Xbox One experience preview later this year," says Microsoft's Larry Hryb (Major Nelson). "From there, we'll ensure that the experience is tuned for gamers before we officially launch Cortana in 2016."

It's not clear what has caused the delay, but there was no mention of the 2016 date back in June when Microsoft first detailed the Cortana integration for Xbox One. In a promotional video at the time, Microsoft said Kinect was required for Cortana speech recognition, so it's possible the roll out delay could allow the company to make the digital assistant work with headsets.

More Xbox One preview members getting the update this weekend

Despite the change, Microsoft is still pressing ahead with its new Xbox One experience preview. The software maker is adding more Xbox One preview members to the dashboard test this weekend. An Xbox beta app for Windows 10 also includes new features like party text chat to allow friends to message each other in a party instead of using voice. Inline notifications has also been added, allowing you to reply to a message from a notification. Microsoft is also enabling notifications for Xbox Live members adding you as a friend or liking, sharing, or commenting on a game clip or post.