Microsoft Store Testing New Membership Category

Microsoft seems to be preparing a new section for the Microsoft Store. The app formerly known as the Windows Store will soon receive a new Membership category. Microsoft is developing the section now, which will sit next to TV Shows, Books, and Movies. Reported by Aggiornamenti Lumia, the new addition is currently running in the Windows Insider Program. That means it is only available in preview on Windows 10 for those on the Insider. As always, Microsoft is working through the feature before launching it in a general build. The screenshots show that the Membership category is fairly self-explanatory. At the moment, the new Microsoft Store section shows Xbox Game Pass subscription options. For what it's worth, the Xbox One already has a similar Membership category that highlights' Game Pass and Xbox Live subscriptions.

Memberships? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/NtoifCydXU

— Aggiornamenti Lumia (@ALumia_Italia) August 11, 2018

It is clear Microsoft will expand this concept further to include its other subscription services. The obvious candidate would be the company's Office 365 cloud-based productivity suite. However, this new Membership category could also include subscription service from third-parties, such as streaming services.

Evolving the Store

This latest development continues the recent evolution of the Microsoft Store. As mentioned, Microsoft changed the name of the Windows Store to the Microsoft Store last year. Microsoft introduced unified shop experience the company debuted last year. Since then, the company has continued to expand the capabilities of the app store. Back in July, the company announced it is making big changes to publishing on the Store, giving developers a quicker route to publishing their apps.