During its press conference at last year’s E3, Microsoft announced a complete overhaul for the Xbox Avatars that first made their debut in 2008 on the Xbox 360. Both Microsoft and Nintendo have toyed with simplistic avatar creations in the past, but these appeared to be far more detailed and expressive than anything we’d seen before. Unfortunately, Microsoft couldn’t hit the late 2017 release date, and we haven’t heard much from the company since.
But this week, members of ResetEra discovered a video on YouTube from a former Microsoft developer which gives a guided tour of the Xbox Avatar Editor that will presumably arrive on Xbox One and PC in the coming months. The clip has since been deleted, but not before at least one Twitter user downloaded and shared it.
As you can see in the video below, the editor is packed with customization options, from facial features like eye color and the shape of your nose, lips and chin to body type, clothing and even fingernails and limbs. This is definitely one of the more detailed character creators you’ll find outside of a massively-multiplayer online game.
https://twitter.com/IdleSloth1984/status/986356662163435520
Each section is separated into Basics and Purchases, confirming that there will be premium hairstyles, outfits and more once the system launches in full. There will also likely be ways to unlock customization options by preordering games or completing certain tasks within a game, as was the case with the Xbox 360 avatar system.
Microsoft still hasn’t said anything about a release date, but The Verge claims that testers will begin to preview the new avatars this month. If that’s the case, it shouldn’t be too long before they roll out to the public as well.
