Microsoft’s inclusive Xbox avatars could arrive this spring

Microsoft announced last year that it was overhauling its avatar system and while the more diverse and customizable Xbox Live avatars were initially due out last fall, the company has kept us waiting. But a source familiar with Microsoft's Xbox plans has told The Verge that the new system will be available to Xbox Insiders for preview this month and is set for a wider rollout in April.

Through the redesigned setup, users will have way more options when it comes to designing their avatars. There will be more props, more clothing options, more body types to choose from and as last year's trailer shows, users can even incorporate prosthetic limbs and pregnancy. And all of the props and accessories are gender neutral. "If you can see it in the store, you can wear it," Kathryn Storm, an interaction designer at Xbox, said last year at E3. "We're not holding you to any type of checkboxes.

According to The Verge, the new avatar system will be integrated in the Xbox One dashboard and Microsoft plans to open a new avatar store in May. However, Mike Ybarra, Microsoft's corporate VP of gaming, said on Twitter that the company has no firm release date yet and shipment will depend on what kind of feedback it gets. So while it appears the more inclusive avatars may be on the way sometime soon, an exact release date still seems to be up in the air.