CNET

Later this summer, Xbox One owners will finally be able to run Windows 10 apps.

Jason Ronald, principal group program manager for Microsoft Game Studios, revealed the Xbox One's upcoming support for Windows 10 universal apps at this week's Game Developers Conference, Business Insider reported on Thursday. Further, Microsoft will merge the Xbox Store and the Windows Store into a single virtual shopping place, so customers will be able to download apps for the Xbox One and Windows 10 from the same place.

A spokesman for Microsoft confirmed to CNET that Ronald's comments were accurate.

Bringing Windows 10 and the Xbox One together is a continuation of Microsoft's push to get all of its products onto a single platform. Microsoft wants to get Windows 10 into as many hands as possible, and offering this bridge could convince Xbox One owners to upgrade to the new operating system. The move comes as major tech companies such as Apple and Google jockey to power your gadgets with their software.

On the flip side, Microsoft wants to create greater demand for the Xbox One, which for the past couple of years has seen its sales trounced by those of Sony's PlayStation 4.

The Xbox One is part of Microsoft's "universal apps" strategy, under which developers can more easily create games and other apps for one platform and then tweak them to run on another platform. For example, a developer could create a game once using a core programming code and then easily modify it to run on a Windows 10 PC, a Windows 10 mobile device and on the Xbox One.

Xbox One players will be able to download and run Windows 10 apps directly onto their consoles as opposed to streaming them from a Windows 10 device. Windows 10 universal apps will also gradually be beefed up so they can handle the more advanced graphics capabilities found in higher-end games. At the conference, Microsoft also announced the "Xbox Live Tournaments Platform," a feature through which developers who create Windows 10 and Xbox One games can set up their own virtual competitive sports leagues, BI added.

A Windows 10 Xbox One app already lets you play Xbox One games on your Windows 10 PC or tablet. Playing Xbox One games on your PC requires just a controller. Playing Windows 10 games and apps on your Xbox One means the console will need to support a keyboard and mouse. In February, Microsoft Xbox division head Phil Spencer tweeted that keyboard and mouse support for the console is something the company will get done.