With the recent rumours of Xbox published games coming to platforms like the Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch, I wanted to talk about why this is a positive move for cloud gaming and shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Let’s discuss.
Some Xbox Games Have Been Multiplatform Since 2014
Let’s start with the first point: several games that are owned or published by Xbox Game Studios have been multi-platform since 2014. Some notable Xbox-published games that appear on other platforms include games in the Minecraft franchise and the Ori franchise. Microsoft has also made ten-year licensing deals to bring their games to cloud gaming services such as NVIDIA’s Geforce NOW, Boosteroid as well as Nintendo and PlayStation. They promised to do this as part of the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard – stating it is what makes economic sense. The fact Microsoft already has games on competing platforms and is looking to expand that lineup with even more games from their Xbox Game Studios like ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard is only a good thing for those who want a choice on where they play their games. It’s what they promised!
Xbox Cloud Gaming Is Still A Thing
The next point is that Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming already exist, are extremely strong, and include games like Halo, Minecraft Dungeons, Doom, Gears Of War, and Age Of Empires. Now, any speculation is going around claiming that Xbox will shut down its cloud gaming service is unfounded and rather ill-conceived. Xbox Game Pass is a platform that allows you to play hundreds of games across PC, Mobile, Console, and other devices via the cloud. The idea of Microsoft wanting to discontinue cloud gaming makes little sense, especially as Microsoft is one of the world’s largest cloud service and software providers. Microsoft operating their own cloud gaming platform could also be seen as a way to convince other game publishers to launch their own cloud gaming services (which would make all of our wallets cry).
Microsoft Has Always Been A Software Company
The last point is one that many people seem to forget. As a company, Microsoft is heavily focused on selling software and software subscriptions over selling hardware. Xbox is the only major hardware brand that is owned by Microsoft (other than perhaps “Surface”). Most of Microsoft’s other core products like Office and Windows are software or services like Azure. Changing strategy and focusing on the software side of gaming (including Xbox as an ecosystem) is better than putting all their eggs into a single instance of hardware which loses money for every unit sold. Now, I don’t think we will see the end of the Xbox consoles, but I do think we will see a slow transition away from Xbox-developed games being locked to a plastic box.
With any luck, Microsoft will continue to operate its cloud gaming platform and continue to add more games to it alongside expanding the reach of all their games across more platforms and services. That way, more gamers can enjoy more great Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard games wherever they play.
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