Anxious to play Xbox games on something other than your Xbox One? Plan on testing Microsoft’s upcoming xCloud gaming service sometime next year.
Microsoft confirmed some xCloud details earlier today, months after gaming head Phil Spencer tipped the company’s hand at E3 2018. As its moniker suggests, xCloud is a cloud gaming service. The idea is that gamers can play whatever they want on whatever device they want, according to the YouTube videos released today that confirmed the project.
xCloud testing will kick off sometime in 2019 if Microsoft sticks to its current timetable. The company says it is designing the service to work on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. Once its engineers have nailed latency issues, xCloud may even work reliable on an LTE connection.
I was sort of surprised when Microsoft announced it was working on a cloud gaming service. Don’t get me wrong, I think being able to play whatever you want, wherever you want is awesome. However, there are a ton of companies already in this space. I’ve tested GeForce Now personally. There’s also PlayStation Now and Google’s streaming service.