Microsoft will roll out update for Xbox One

Microsoft is giving the Xbox One a new look as the company tries to focus its video game console on its main function: gaming.

The company on Thursday will start rolling out the biggest software update for the device since its launch two years ago.

Most people will notice the change as a visual face-lift designed to cut the time it takes to find and start up games, chat with friends or watch videos. Also arriving with the update is the ability to play some games designed for the earlier Xbox 360.

The shifts come as Microsoft tries to make up ground it has lost to rival Sony since both companies released their latest game consoles in late 2013. The PlayStation 4 has maintained its predecessor’s sales lead internationally and wrested the top spot in the U.S. from Xbox too.

The Xbox One, the third version of the game console line Microsoft first released in 2001, represented a departure for the company. The device was pitched to consumers as a home entertainment hub, a bid to broaden its appeal beyond gamers and open for Microsoft such entertainment realms as video streaming and even original films or TV shows.

The approach fell short. Gamers weren’t as interested in a living room hub and were turned off by unpopular policies, repealed before the console’s release, that would have required an Internet connection to play games offline and restricted use of game discs.

The Xbox One’s old tile-icon-based interface, a cousin of Microsoft’s Windows 8 personal computer operating system, gives way in the update to a vertically arranged home page that takes users to their most-used features and saved items with one or two clicks of a controller.

Meanwhile, an always accessible bar on the left allows quick access, even within games, to Xbox Live social media features and the device’s settings.

Also high on gamers’ wish lists, and arriving Thursday, is the ability to play games built for the previous version of Xbox.

New game consoles typically make gamers’ existing libraries obsolete, and Microsoft sees the new functionality as a selling point to persuade Xbox 360 users to get the latest model.

Microsoft says 104 Xbox 360 games will work on the Xbox One on Thursday. More are coming.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Microsoft will roll out update for Xbox One."