Bing may still not be a household name the same way Google is, but Microsoft has seen huge success in their own search business. Now, Microsoft has leveraged its multiple business connections in a delightful new way for Xbox gamers.
Now, you can just look up the name of a game on Bing, and then press a button on the Bing page to immediately launch said game. It’s an effective demonstration of both Bing’s and Xbox Cloud’s abilities, and Microsoft’s cloud services in general.
Of course, all of this still has some qualifiers. In this case, you need to have an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and you need to be logged onto your Microsoft account on your browser and/or device. Now, this has been tested on both Chrome and Microsoft’s Chrome based Edge browser, so you may not even have to worry about having Bing or Xbox Cloud apps on your device of choice.
This feature is also available in select regions, so many players may already take advantage of this feature, but that may not necessarily include you. Naturally, the feature is only there in countries where Xbox Cloud Gaming is available.
Now, some players may dismiss this feature, as they may ascertain that the big majority of gamers, even Xbox gamers, aren’t even going to make use of it. That may or may not be true, but to criticize it for this reason would be missing the bigger point. Like Sony’s foray with PlayStation VR, the company may not necessarily see a huge return on investment, but simply exploring the technology and the limits of what’s feasible would be a worthwhile endeavor in itself. In it there is a hope that Microsoft stumbles upon a new way of doing business that consumers would enjoy and would also make them money.
At the very least, the fact that this is feasible already indicates that Microsoft’s cloud integration across their different businesses is a huge asset. We are probably still a long way away from everyone doing all our gaming on the cloud, directly from the search bars. But it does mean the possibilities of gaming have already broken apart from just doing it on a powerful PC or console.
Just the other day, Xbox head Phil Spencer was already teasing what is apparently an old prototype of their upcoming Keystone platform. As appearances come and go, this prototype more closely resembles an Android TV box than a Google Chromecast or a PC stick. Whatever form Keystone eventually takes, it will settle into becoming another option for consumers to get into gaming. It’s entirely possible that Keystone will be cheaper than a Xbox Cloud Gaming capable phone, meaning it will lead as a budget friendly platform. That is the power that testing all this cloud gaming has given to Xbox, and ultimately, it’s one of many deadly sides to the Lament Configuration that is Microsoft’s gaming business.
