Following its surprise partnership with Sony on cloud gaming, Microsoft has announced its entire Xbox title library will be available to stream on the forthcoming Project xCloud platform.
The streaming service has not yet entered public beta testing – slated to begin later this year – but commentators say that the company may have the winning ingredients for successful streaming service thanks to its Azure infrastructure.
The Project xCloud rolled out its “alpha” test to an internal team ahead of public trials, which was completed on May 1.
Microsoft is aiming to provide a streaming service that can be accessed from a computer, console, or smartphone with “seamless compatibility” for developers and gamers.
Project xCloud blades have already been deployed to data centres in thirteen Azure regions in North America, Asia, and Europe — none so far in Australia.
Xbox One features backwards compatibility and Microsoft is aiming for Project xCloud to follow suit to enable the streaming of the full contents of its Xbox library – some 3,500 titles with more in development.
A recent update to the Xbox Developer Kit includes support for streaming, so games adjust features and functionalities when on the cloud.
Meaning that Microsoft is aiming to create a streaming service which would enable developers to create a game that could be played on any platform without any additional development, extra code or update.
Following the announcement, Google Stadia’s official Twitter account declared more information on its cloud-based gaming platform would be released soon.
Expect more gaming news to be announced at this year’s E3 gaming expo beginning June 11.
