Microsoft said that its Project xCloud video game streaming service will not only support all the current games in the Xbox family of systems, but also all upcoming Xbox One titles.
Project xCloud will let players stream games from Microsoft’s own servers to the device of their choice. The technology will open up console-quality gaming to people who do not have the necessary hardware, with the only requirement being a strong and stable internet connection.
In an update on the technology through an Xbox Wire post, Microsoft said Project xCloud is capable of running three generations of games, namely all the titles from the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The service is capable of streaming all of the more than 3,500 games without any adjustments or modifications required from their developers. In addition, when a developer updates the Xbox One version of a game, the changes will automatically be applied to all versions of the title on Project xCloud.
Microsoft also said there are more than 1,900 games in development for the Xbox One, and that all of them will run on Project xCloud. This brings the total number of current and future Xbox games supported by the streaming service to more than 5,000 games.
In the Xbox Wire post, Microsoft also said that it has added streaming support to the standard Xbox Developer Kit. This will allow games to recognize if they are being streamed from the cloud, for features that can improve the experience such as font size adjustments for smaller displays and hosting multiplayer matches on a single server for lower latency.
Microsoft’s internal nickname for Project xCloud is “Netflix for games,” and it is easy to see why knowing how the service will work. It will have plenty of competition in the video game streaming space over the next few years, however, including Google Stadia. Google Cloud supported the successful launch of titles such as Apex Legends and Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, and the stability of the service will be extended to Google’s upcoming game streaming platform.
Microsoft has revealed neither the price nor the release date for Project xCloud, an alpha version of which has already rolled out for testing to Microsoft employees ahead of public trials later this year. Hopefully more information about the service will make its way to E3 2019.
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