Xbox 360 owners around the world should find themselves a seat, cancel all of their upcoming appointments and prepare themselves for an Xbox LIVE download blitz, as Microsoft has announced that more than 40 new entertainment based apps will land on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace in the coming days. The Redmond based company have announced that they are committed to launching a total of 43 new apps between now and the Spring of 2013, with a large portion of the new app releases hitting the market immediately. Although some territories may not see the new additions for the next few days as they propagate through the system.
Microsoft seems to be continuing on their laser-focused mission to make the Xbox 360 an all-round entertainment system, which is pretty much confirmed with this announcement that will see apps such as ARTE, HBO Nordics, Flixster and Napster land on the platform. Apps that are available at the time of writing include a Karaoke app that is available in all LIVE regions, with the exception of Japan and the United Arab Emirates, as well as an app to access files stored on Microsoft’s own SkyDrive cloud storage service.
It isn’t all glory and sunshine though for Xbox users, and although some of the new additions will be entirely free to use, a number of the new apps that are becoming available are built around a subscription based model that will require users to sign-up for a monthly payment to access the content. What is also notable is that the apps will all come with varying territory requirements, meaning that not all new apps will be available to use within the United States or Europe.
New additions such as HBO Nordics will only be available in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, while United States users are the only ones who will benefit from the new PopcornFlix and Maxim apps. With Xbox users focusing their attention more towards entertainment based applications, it’s great to see Microsoft continuing their push to expand the platform into an entertainment based powerhouse.
For a full list of the upcoming apps releases and the associated territory limitations, head on over to Major Nelson’s blog post to find out all of the intricate details.
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