Microsoft is Developing a New ‘Wallpaper Engine’ Like Tool for the Xbox

Dynamic and interactive wallpapers have been around for a while, and were a rage in the early days of Android. Obviously the trend has settled since, except among Steam users armed with Wallpaper Engine. Among one of the most used apps in steam, Wallpaper Engine is a Windows application that allows users to build and use animated and interactive desktop wallpapers. 

It seems Microsoft is also working on an “unnamed project” to bring some of Wallpaper Engine’s functionality to the Xbox. This scoop comes from a well known Microsoft leakster, Aggioramenti Lumia, who posted a gif of the unreleased application on Twitter. 

Here is the upcoming unnamed project https://t.co/MSERWDVdAP pic.twitter.com/Jnwz1ChjeX

— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) May 15, 2022

On first glance, the application seems to share a lot of functionality with Wallpaper engine where users can create live wallpapers from video clips, and also adjust various attributes in the scene. The “Xbox Dynamic Backgrounds Editor” also showcases a timeline where users can easily drag and drop to apply new effects. There’s also the option to add custom assets into the scene from the editor. 

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1525924592686141443?s=20&t=N141t9xKeHsLNFNJTUWtaA

Unfortunately, it seems the new tool is only intended for game developers. Most likely aimed to streamline the development of new dynamic themes. To be fair, dynamic wallpapers have been a thing on Xbox for a while now. But they are very basic in form and don’t offer any customisation. While user customisation will still be missing in the event of a limited release to developers, we will atleast get more interesting dynamic themes to choose from.