[Updated] Xbox is reportedly testing several ways to let gamers gain experience with new “Career” system

Laurent Giret

Xbox Onesie 2

Microsoft pioneered the achievement system with the Xbox 360 back in 2005, a great gamification feature that can now be found on pretty much all gaming platforms. It’s quite fascinating to see dedicated Achievements hunters getting closer to a 2 million Gamerscore, but Microsoft is now looking for new ways to keep Xbox gamers engaged.

A couple of months ago, we learned that Microsoft was working on a new “Career” system for Xbox gamers, complete with visible player levels, prestige ranks, quests to complete and exclusive rewards. According to a new report from Windows Central, this Xbox Career system is still in active development. There could be several ways for gamers to earn EXP, and the following solutions are reportedly in testing:

  • Total playtime across all games, to be updated at specific milestones.
  • EXP level milestones.
  • The number of games you have played.
  • Simply playing a set number of games per day.
  • Competing on Xbox Live, although it’s not clear in what context, whether as part of Tournaments or general multiplayer games.
  • Creating content on Xbox Live, perhaps by sharing game clips and so on or streaming.
  • Earning regular Gamerscore achievements.

To keep players engaged every day, the Xbox team is reportedly working on “daily quests” to allow gamers to win extra EXP every day. The most interesting aspect of this career system could be the cosmetic items to unlock for your Xbox Avatar. “Microsoft might be tying the Career system to lootcrate-like rewards for the new Avatar system, which will bring vibrant and updated customizable character models for players on Xbox Live,” the report says.

Last but not least, the Redmond giant is also reportedly considering some tie-ins between this new Career system and Microsoft Rewards. This is an interesting idea considering that Microsoft Rewards will replace the Xbox Live Rewards Program in all markets in June. We may learn more about this Xbox Career System during E3 2018 in June, so best to keep tuned for more.

Update: Xbox’s head of platform engineering Mike Ybarra tweeted today that this career system isn’t in active development. “As fun as it all sounds, there isn’t a career system in active development. Good to see all the feedback on this, however,” he said.