Microsoft has announced another way gamers will access Xbox content in the near future: Project xCloud. The cloud gaming platform is to compete with Google Stadia. Google Stadia alone has stirred many businesses like Microsoft, Sony, and Nvidia to make a future where cloud-streamed video games are a more substantial choice.
Kareem Choudhry, the Corporate Vice President of Gaming for Microsoft, talking about the xCloud says, “To have success at a global scale with the level of ambition that we have at Microsoft, you really need content, community, and the cloud.” On being asked about cloud gaming, he said- “We’ve been building consoles for years. We build a lot of them. We have some skill at that and what we’ve done is taken the core innards of an Xbox One S and we thought ‘how can we transform that into something more suitable for the data centre.”
Cloud gaming has been a key part of the discussion for Microsoft ever since it announced Xbox One. The company has laid out plans to improve games by using cloud computing power. Now the cloud is being used more via Project xCloud.
“We used to live in a world of games as a product and then we evolved to games as a service where you’re constantly updating. You’re interacting with your consumer base. You’re understanding what they’re doing,” Chaudhry mentioned. He then exhibited one of the data centre racks made up of eight Xbox One S units. “When you’re streaming on Project xCloud, this is the hardware you are using,” he clarified. “The games designed for the console run with 100% compatibility on this hardware.”
Phil Spencer, the VP of Gaming added, “Streaming is not a solution for everyone to play tomorrow. We have built xCloud for the next decade. First, expand the capabilities of our existing customers but, in the long run, this is about reaching more of the planet who wants to play those great games that our partners build.”
When will the Project xCloud be available for gamers, is uncertain. What is understandable is it will support all existing and upcoming Xbox One games.
