E3 2018 | Microsoft planning inclusive game-streaming service

It seems Microsoft is planning a big entry into cloud-based game-streaming services. There has been speculation that cloud-based gaming is the future of that particular industry. For example, Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot had this to say about the situation in an interview with Variety:

I think we will see another generation, but there is a good chance that step-by-step we will see less and less hardware. With time, I think streaming will become more accessible to many players and make it not necessary to have big hardware at home.

Obviously the major console makers, such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, have to consider the future of gaming and how games are likely to be played. There’s no point in spending hundreds of millions of dollars on hardware research and development when the future of the industry could be based on a combination of the cloud and whatever device a gamer happens to own. Microsoft’s Executive VP of Gaming, Phil Spencer, made these comments at E3 about the company’s plans:

Our cloud engineers are building a game streaming network to unlock console-quality gaming on any device.

And:

We are dedicated to perfecting your experience everywhere you want to play - your Xbox, your PC and your phone.

There are big players already involved in cloud-based gaming: Sony has the PlayStation Now service and Nvidia released GeForce Now in 2015. But with Microsoft planning on bringing “console-quality gaming” to any device, this could herald a major shake-up in this particular sector.

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