Xbox Originals To Debut This June

Microsoft has been hinting at several different original television projects for months – including an upcoming project with Steven Spielberg to make Halo a television series – and today gave us a look at how Microsoft’s original content would shake out. The plan is to launch the newly-minted Xbox Originals with the previously-announced live, interactive stream of Bonnaroo Music Festival on June 13th. Xbox owners will be able to switch vantage points and take part in Skype calls with artists backstage; this degree of user control and interactivity will be a prime feature of many of Xbox Original series as well. On that front, Microsoft promised a host of non-event-based content, including “Every Street United,” hosted by international soccer personalities Thierry henry and Edgar Davids, “Signal to Noise,” focused on the influence of technology on directors, and the promised “Halo” series. After looking at how cautiously Netflix and Amazon have eased into original content, Microsoft’s broad lineup is certainly the most ambitious off-the-bat launch in some time. It also is a fantastic ploy to keep living-room consumers off of their cable boxes and on their Xbox’s as much as possible.