Microsoft XBox retiring Facebook, Twitter apps

Gamers using Microsoft's Xbox 360 may have to kiss their apps for Facebook and Twitter goodbye, a games-oriented website reported.

 

The two social networking apps will be removed in the Dashboard update for Microsoft's popular gaming console, IGN reported.

 

"(W)e're retiring the Facebook and Twitter apps (to) streamline" app functionality on 360, IGN quoted a Microsoft representative as saying.

 

It said gamers who want to access tweets and Facebook updates may have to use the Internet Explorer 9 browser, which will be included in the update.

 

Microsoft did not comment when asked when Facebook and Twitter apps could return to the Xbox 360, it added.

 

The Dashboard update is a mandatory one for the game console.

 

A separate article on PC Magazine said the two social networking apps may not have been as frequently used but are "fairly long-standing parts of the Xbox 360 ecosystem."

 

"The two apps have made a home on the Xbox 360 for the past three years. There's no indication of just how many gamers in total actually used Facebook or Twitter to update their online goings-on from the comfort of their gaming consoles ... although the Facebook app at least allowed gamers to more easily find their Xbox Live friends in the real world (or vice versa)," it said.

 

It added this may also mean the Xbox 360 will lack a solid method for connecting real-world friends to Xbox Live gamertags. — TJD, GMA News