Hot news coming straight from Microsoft in the leadup to the X019 gaming conference in London. This one is related to Project xCloud, the company’s big play for Azure cloud powered gaming.
The service already exists right now, with owners of mobile devices testing it out in its initial phase.
But this is certainly not the extent of Microsoft’s vision. It wants to bring this game streaming service to a range of devices and form factors, most notably the one that is more commonly associated with AAA games — the good old PC platform.
The Redmond based technology titan made things official during an episode of the Inside Xbox show, revealing that Project xCloud is set to expanding to Windows 10 PCs in 2020. Theoretically, the service will work the same as it does currently on Android-supported phones and tablets.
That is, it will make use of Azure cloud technology to turn any regular old Windows 10 machine into a gaming rig via streaming, regardless of its hardware specification.
While we are on the topic of hardware, the future of Project xCloud is not just limited to Xbox One gamepads. Microsoft also confirmed that it will enable support for a wide range of Bluetooth controllers next year, including surprisingly, the PlayStation DualShock 4.
A natural step in the evolution of the new mindset the Xbox guys have been pursuing for a while now, that of allowing gamers to play anything, anytime, anywhere.
Speaking of, the software titan also revealed that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also get the option to stream those games via Project xCloud. Essentially, extending the Xbox ecosystem that consumers have already brought into.
With Google Stadia also in the house, next year sure could turn out to be the year of game streaming.
