If you still use Xbox One as an intermediary between the set-top box and the TV, Microsoft has some bad news for you: soon, you will no longer see TV listings on OneGuide.
The news comes from a new post on the Xbox Wire blog that mentions that while you can still view any device connected to the HDMI port on the back of your Xbox One, you will not see channel listings or program information for any of the channels. TV, programs or movies that appear on the screen.
The solution? Well, if your set-top box is connected to Xbox One, Xbox One S or Xbox One X, you may want to run it directly on TV right now.
The good news is that Microsoft is giving you two more months before pulling the figurative plug into the main Xbox OneGuide feature and you won’t have to worry about that until May this year.
Has the Xbox always been the center of your living room?
It was not so long ago that Don Mattrick, then president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, promised that the Xbox One would be the entertainment center of his home.
At the infamous Xbox One opening event, Mattrick said that by connecting your set-top box to the Xbox, you would open up a whole new world of entertainment thanks to features such as image in image (Snap) and integration with Kinect. To do this, Mattrick said the console would always need to have an internet connection, which really bothered many gamers who just wanted a basic Xbox 360 update.
The Xbox Series X would implement some of Mattrick’s ideas (downloaded games require you to be connected to the internet to make sure you’re the true owner) and some – like seamless music integration – have become essential parts of the PS4 and PS5.
Unfortunately, Microsoft’s pivot to the center of its media center didn’t work out the way it wanted to, but in the end Microsoft found new services – like Xbox Game Pass and backward compatibility – to show players that Xbox One was more than just a sports TV box.
Although OneGuide will remain after the update, the app will be a shell of itself – a reminder that Microsoft once thought that Xbox One could be the control center for your living room, failed and became something better.