Microsoft Announces Xbox Partnership with Calm App
Microsoft’s recent partnership with the Calm app is bringing a variety of soundscapes to the app to help with daily life. The partnership between Xbox and Calm is set to aid Calm’s ability to produce sounds to assist app users with tasks such as meditation and sleep. The soundscapes are apparently based on video games and brought to the Calm app for the very first time.
Calm Premium members will be able to access two new soundscapes from Xbox that can be used as background sounds. The new soundscapes are from the games Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves. The sounds focus in on alien noises in the former, and ocean and chirping bird noises in the latter, meant to allow for full relaxation for listeners on the Calm app.
At least at the beginning of the partnership, the Xbox soundscapes are only available for Calm Premium members. Calm Premium currently costs $69.99 for the year, but new users right now can actually get a 3-month free trial, along with a 50% discount on the first year of their membership subscription. If anything, it’s at least worth checking out via the 3-month trial to see how the Xbox sounds fit in a relaxed environment. Certainly the Sea of Thieves sounds are quite tranquil.
One of the pressing issues that Microsoft wanted to address through this partnership was maintaining the well-being of the mental health of their user base. In a recent global survey done by Xbox, it was found that 54 percent of users said they play video games to relieve stress, which is a statistic that may surprise a lot of people. Especially in the current global environment plagued with war, pandemic and price gouging, apps like Calm can be absolutely vital for mental health as everyone needs a time to unwind and forget about these issues.
It’s important that Microsoft brings light to these issues since mental health is one of the most important issues in existence and it’s a global problem, and we now know through surveys that gamers use video games to escape from problems and relieve stress. This is why the top companies in the industry, like Microsoft, need to be the leading voices in the battle to overcome such issues and prioritize mental health through their actions as a company. Therefore, this partnership with Calm is significantly more important than what it appears to be on the surface level.
While the addition of Xbox sounds to the Calm app might not have all the answers right away, it’s a good small first step to integrate gaming into relaxation and meditation apps. Granted, the sounds need to be appropriate and very relaxing otherwise it wouldn’t make sense, but there’s plenty of opportunity to intertwine the two industries, especially since a lot of people that meditate also play video games so if they have sounds that are relatable to them while they are unwinding, it’s going to bring a sense of security and familiarity that allows them to properly meditate and improve their mental health.
The Calm app is extremely popular already. Many people use it, including myself, and it’s designed very well. As they start to bring in sounds from other industries and aspects of life, it’s most certainly going to grow and get more publicity. This partnership is very good news and both companies will benefit from it, and on top of that it’s at the very early stages having just been announced recently, so perhaps the best is yet to come.