Xbox One Will Soon Let You Take Screenshots

The Xbox One will soon get functionality that lets users take screenshots, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says. This feature, which has been promised for more than six months, should launch in the next few months.

"Screenshots are coming early this year. I know it has been a question for quite a while," Spencer said on the Xbox Wire. "We delivered themes, and I think a natural add-on to themes are screenshots."

"Giving people more ability to share their great gaming moments on the platform--whether it's just as a screenshot, as their background, or through many of the different social networks that we allow people to share their content through is a long-term commitment that we have," he added.

Back in May 2014, Spencer revealed that the ability to take screenshots on Xbox One was one of the features Microsoft engineers were working to deliver through a future update. One of the reasons why we haven't seen this feature yet is because it's "a little more technically challenging" than Spencer first imagined.

"Two weeks ago, [Microsoft engineers] think they've found a good solution for screenshots. They're working on it. They know people want it," he said in October. "The team has a path to getting it done, and now it's just prioritizing."

By comparison, the PlayStation 4 has allowed users to take and share screenshots since launch in November 2013. The Xbox One's lack of screenshot functionality has put a damper on some game functionality, as Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor's Photo Mode is significantly limited on Xbox One.