Cortana won’t hit the Xbox One until sometime next year

Cortana may have gotten her name from one of the main characters in the Halo series, but Xbox One users are still going to have to wait a few more months before the digital assistant makes its way onto their consoles. This is a bit strange when you consider the fact that the Windows 10-powered “New Xbox One experience” that Microsoft has has been talking about for a while now will be launching before the end of the year, while one of the main components of that experience won’t actually be hitting the Xbox One until next year. 

While the Windows 10-powered “New Xbox One experience” will arrive on consoles later this year, users will have to wait for one of the most useful features. In a post on his blog Xbox Live’s Major Nelson said Cortana won’t be rolled out until 2016. Members of the Xbox preview program will be able to test drive Microsoft’s personal assistant later this autumn, in order to get the experience ready for prime time. “For those who have asked about Cortana, our plan is to add Cortana to the Xbox One experience preview later this year,” Major Nelson, real name Larry Hyrb, wrote (via Engadget). “From there, we’ll ensure that the experience is tuned for gamers before we officially launch Cortana in 2016.” For everyone outside the preview program, there will be a chance to enjoy Cortana’s sultry tones before the year is out. She’s still very much a part of the Halo franchise, with Halo 5: Guardians launching on Xbox One at the end of the month. Meanwhile, Hyrb announced more invites to the preview program will be rolling out to Xbox Live members this weekend. The new Xbox One experience will arrive for all users in November.