With most Windows Live Messenger users moving onto Skype in about two months, it seems clear that Microsoft is striving to make Skype their central online text, audio and messaging service. Today, there's a new rumor that claims Skype will be the replacement for Xbox Live messaging for the next version of Microsoft's Xbox console.
Computer and Video Games reports that their unnamed source claims Microsoft will soon be "consolidating all their communications technology" around their Skype division. As far as Skype support for the next Xbox, the unnamed source is quoted as saying, "You might jump to the conclusion that we'll see asynchronous voice and video messages in next-gen Xbox Live."
This would seem to be a no-brainer; indeed, it would be a shock if Skype was not going to be included in Microsoft's next Xbox console. There's also the fact that Microsoft has posted up a number of job listings in 2012 that indicate it is working on some kind of Skype client either for the current Xbox 360 or the upcoming next Xbox.