Xbox is a big name in the video games industry, and this isn’t something that will change anytime soon. In fact, Microsoft plans several improvements in the future and it is ready to adopt new technology. Project xCloud is one of those.
What Is xCloud?
For those who do not know yet, the xCloud is a game streaming service produced by Microsoft that is supposed to come out this year. The service will be able to push games to the entire tech ecosystem of the user. While this might affect the profit of the consoles, it turns out that Microsoft no longer thinks that consoles are the main source of profit.
“The business inside of games is really selling games, and selling access to games and content in means like that is the fundamental business. So if you open it up, the more often people can play, the more they’re enjoying the art form. It increases the size of the business,” explained Phil Spencer, Microsoft head of gaming.
Consoles aren’t a necessity for a gamer, and statistics prove it. Microsoft estimates that there are around 2 billion gamers all over the world. However, only 75 million PS4 consoles were sold by Sony, while around 30-50 million purchased the Xbox One.
“We know we aren’t going to sell 2 billion consoles, and there are a lot of markets around the world where a console is not necessarily part of the lifestyle,” explained corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Gaming Cloud, Kareem Choudhry.
With the new streaming service, Microsoft will be able to attract new customers, including people who were not going to purchase one of their consoles. This is, therefore, a lot more profitable for the company.
“Not all of those players are going to want to pay $60 to go play something that they haven’t heard of before, and I see that model as being something that can really help us as an industry grow,” Spencer said.
Nora Reynolds is a major in biology and a minor in Biological Basis of Behavior, writing about science in general. She also likes to try new gadgets and sports about the AI new era.
