New Microsoft Store Design for Xbox Revealed

Microsoft has revealed a new version of its Microsoft Store for Xbox, which will start being released to Insiders on August 5, and arrive this fall for all users. Shown off on the Xbox Wire blog, the store is a complete redesign (and clearly a newer version of the store design that leaked in June), which should be twice as fast to load, easier to search, and safer. The post only mentions this store with regard to Xbox One, but we've previously heard that that Series X will have the same UI as Xbox One, so we may well be looking at the next-gen store too. You can check out a series of screenshots below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=9-images-of-the-new-microsoft-store-design-for-xbox&captions=true"] The store should start up within two seconds, and be faster to browse and watch trailers within. Trailers can be played inline while browsing (i.e. without opening the game's store page), and can be set to autoplay. The store also now includes a "fully redesigned navigation system", which will allow for better search filtering, a rebuilt wishlist that will alert you to sales on items you're watching, an updated shopping cart, better-surfaced listings for games available from previous console generations, and more. In a walkthrough with Major Nelson, Microsoft's Cody Bird explained that the store's been designed in part to be more easily navigable for new users. The store will now only be usable if users are signed in, which has two main purposes. The first is that the store will seemingly recommend games more relevant to your interests, but the second is that game age ratings are better shown, and can be filtered on children's accounts to stop underage players viewing content inappropriate for their age. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Some Xbox Insiders will be able to try out the new store from August 5, and it will be gradually rolled out to more and more users ahead of a fall release. Cody Bird added that this is the "starting point" for the new store, not a finished product, and it will continue to evolve after launch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.