Microsoft’s recent plans to acquire Activision Blizzard have sparked interest in the gaming community, but it’s not the only exciting news. Internal emails between Microsoft employees from 2021 have surfaced, discussing the possibility of streaming PC games over Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The emails were a response to Google’s now-defunct Stadia service, which posed a potential threat at the time. Microsoft and Xbox leadership discussed utilizing Azure servers to stream PC games via the cloud. Despite Stadia’s demise, gamers hope that Microsoft will continue to pursue this feature.
In an email chain, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared an article about Google Stadia’s plans for cloud gaming. Nadella questioned whether Microsoft would offer a similar service for Game Pass PC using Azure servers. His email indicated the possibility of Xbox Cloud Gaming becoming a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) backend.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, responded to Nadella’s email, acknowledging the cost-effectiveness of offering a white-label cloud service similar to Stadia. Spencer mentioned the reuse of Azure hardware and the potential for recouping costs by streaming PC native games.
Kareem Choudhry, head of Microsoft Cloud Gaming, agreed with Spencer’s remarks and added that they were developing an appropriate Azure SKU to meet customer demand for infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS) and xCloud PC streaming.
While these emails demonstrate that Microsoft was exploring the idea of streaming PC games over the cloud in 2021, the feature is not yet available to the public. It’s possible that the project was put on hold after Stadia’s shutdown. However, Phil Spencer’s email suggests that Stadia was not perceived as a significant competitor, with NVIDIA’s GeForce Now being more of a concern.
The decision to prioritize the amplification of Xbox Game Pass features may explain the delay in releasing this highly anticipated feature. Cloud gaming has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry, and many gamers eagerly await its availability.
In conclusion, while Microsoft has made strides towards streaming PC games over Xbox Cloud Gaming, the feature is still not accessible to the general public. However, with Microsoft’s ambitious plans for the future, it’s only a matter of time before cloud gaming becomes a reality for all gamers.
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