Live Anywhere

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The Live Anywhere logo, as seen at E3 2006

Live Anywhere is a schedule feature for the video game console Xbox service, Xbox Live. It will enable a variety of non-Xbox platforms such as a Windows Vista PC, Windows Mobile phones, and Java-enabled phones to connect to Xbox Live. Users, each with a unique Gamertag that carries over from Xbox Live, will be able to play online, keep track of their friends' status, send and receive messages, purchase Xbox Live Arcade games for cell phone use, gain and keep track of Achievements, and more. Some games will allow for cross-platform play, including the upcoming Shadowrun game, which will allow PC players to compete against Xbox 360 players.

Live Anywhere on the PC will debut with Windows Vista. Its features will initially be limited, but will grow just as the features of Xbox Live have over the years. The service was announced and demonstrated publicly by Bill Gates, appearing for the first time at E3, on a Motorola Q phone running Windows Mobile.

The service will be open to 3rd-party developers, but they must be able to meet certain requirements, which could include game ratings, total number of achievement points, and the ability to properly connect to Xbox Live.

On 22 August, 2006, Microsoft released[1] a roadmap of their Xbox 360 and Games for Windows strategy. The first Live Anywhere enabled game, Shadowrun, will be released in early 2007 on both platforms. The first third-party cross-platform content will arrive in autumn 2007, by which time the application and certification process will have been finalised, with the "flood gates to open for all titles" in 2008.

Microsoft have also confirmed[2] that Halo 2 Vista will be Live Anywhere-capable. To what extent is unknown.