It was almost a year ago that Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed the return of a refreshed Xbox Live Avatars program, which originally had its heyday back on the Xbox 360. While Microsoft used its stage time at E3 2017 to present more high profile happenings like Sea of Thieves and the new BioWare IP Anthem, the official first look at the new Xbox Live avatars program was slyly played during a later livestream from Xbox Daily.

The trailer shows a night-and-day improvement over the previous Xbox Live avatars, with Microsoft really nailing the iconic Pixar-esque look: big bright eyes, detailed textures, and a satisfying smoothness accompanies the avatar each time it moves. The official trailer promises that the avatars will arrive on Xbox Live this fall, presumably in tandem with the Xbox One X itself.

Take a look at the new Xbox Live Avatar announcement below:

The trailer also shows that players will be able to select from an RGB color palette when making their characters, adding a much deeper level of customization than the avatar program of years past. It's not currently known how many costumes and poses the program will have when it launches this fall, and we can presume that not all of the content will arrive for free - if history is due to repeat itself, specific game-branded content will likely cost a few dollars to put on one's avatar.

Gamers already knew that wheelchairs would be heading to the Xbox Live avatar program, but Microsoft has gone a step beyond to include everything from prosthetic limbs to pregnant avatars for gamers to choose from, all of which will be available for avatars of varying sizes. All clothing options are now genderless as well, allowing gamers to dress their avatars outside of traditional gender norms. If the old rules for the avatar program will carry forward in the new update, though, it means gamers hoping for gun props are in for some sad news.

No news yet on if any previous avatar purchases or clothing options from the Xbox 360 will be ported forward, but given as this is a total program refreshment, one can assume that Microsoft is starting with a clean slate here. As the fall release date approaches, Microsoft will likely offer plenty of more details about its fully refurbished avatar program.

What do you think of the new Xbox Live Avatars, Ranters?

Source: YouTube