There has been a bit of a push lately to see cloud streaming for video games. It’s not quite at a level that’s proven to be the go-to method for gaming. But we’re seeing more companies build up their infrastructures to make them a big player in the future. For instance, one company that has used cloud gaming to provide next-generation experiences for players lacking the actual hardware is Microsoft. Their Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription offers the ability to stream a wide assortment of games that have been released for the Xbox Series X/S. However, it does look like the company is trying to enhance its capabilities further.
Thanks to The Verge, we’re finding out about some new court documents surfacing online. With Microsoft seeking to acquire Activision Blizzard, we’re seeing more court documents and plans that were happening behind closed doors to the public. This latest set of documents highlighted by The Verge is a set of emails between various Microsoft executives, such as the head of the Xbox division, Phil Spencer. More specifically, the emails from 2021 focused on the Google Stadia platform. The emails started to discuss Google providing a white-label service for third-party developers for their game streaming service.
Meanwhile, they were striving to provide a similar service for their Game Pass on PC. Right now, we’re only streaming games that were released for the Xbox Series X/S platforms. So, it does look like there is a push to start streaming PC games in the future. However, as noted by the publication, Microsoft will need to work on its Azure service to make streaming PC games a possibility. But so far, we have yet to see that rollout, and again, we’re dealing with emails that date back to 2021.
We all know Google Stadia failed to deliver and was shut down earlier this year. That said, Microsoft looks to be pushing its Game Pass service. There was even the shutdown of Xbox Live Gold, and in its place, they rebranded the former subscription service to Xbox Game Pass Core. However, as it stands, you’ll have to be on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate even to make use of cloud gaming right now. Of course, even now, the feature for cloud gaming is still just in beta, but you’ll at least get to play several of their first-party games without the need for the Xbox Series X/S platform or a gaming PC.
