11/11/2023 0 Comments Discord push to talk xbox controllerWhile that list of "supported" games may be small once finalized, the idea of PlayStation leapfrogging Microsoft, the so-called cloud company, on this much-awaited feature will be a tough pill to swallow for Xbox Cloud Gaming users. Meanwhile, PlayStation unexpectedly in June announced that it will be forging ahead with this feature instead for "supported" games. This news was particularly exciting to hear, since many of the games that make sense for a low-latency experience simply aren't available on Xbox Game Pass, but we're years out from that announcement now, and it still hasn't materialized. Microsoft announced quite a while ago that its long-term plan for Xbox Cloud Gaming was to allow players to play games they actually own in the service, rather than being restricted to the limited selection in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. PlayStation leapfrogs Xbox on major cloud features And yes, while it remains far behind Xbox Game Pass' cloud service in terms of content breadth and features, the gap is rapidly closing. Sony also recently detailed its plan to begin bringing PlayStation 5 games to its PlayStation Plus cloud streaming service. And sure, it doesn't support cloud right now, but future versions could conceivably do so. Sony is also exploring handheld devices for remote play, with its " Project Q" handheld. Sony is looking to grow its cloud gaming footprint with 28 new data centers, which it aims to launch more broadly in Spring next year. Insider Gaming has very well-connected sources within PlayStation recently, and they recently dropped a report on what Sony calls Cronos - the codename for its cloud gaming expansion plan. According to reports, that's exactly what Sony is looking to do right now. Indeed, Microsoft supposedly only has enough capacity for a few thousand concurrent users in the UK - a stat that might be useful to know if you're a competitor looking to leapfrog Microsoft's position. FTC and UK CMA, with Microsoft President Brad Smith even appearing on BBC Radio to downplay its significance to the firm. Microsoft worked hard to undermine its own cloud operations during the regulatory battles with the U.S. There are even some expectations that Microsoft may divest UK cloud gaming in its entirety to a third-party operator, like UK telecoms giant BT. The UK regulator threatened to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the Call of Duty maker on the grounds of cloud gaming after all, it might not be particularly great optics to push ahead with an expansion there. Part of this might be due to the Activision deal, to speculate (perhaps cynically). I've heard that Microsoft has also reduced allocations for cloud servers in certain territories, notably the UK, while Xbox Cloud Gaming continues to suffer from increased queues. I can corroborate a report from Brad Sams on YouTube that Microsoft has been restructuring its cloud gaming business, with some staff being moved to other departments. Xbox Cloud Gaming is the best cloud gaming platform for mobile devices right now, but the gap could easily close. Stands to reason the firm would be an industry leader in cloud gaming, right? With PlayStation's victory in this generation all but assured already, perhaps Microsoft could find wins elsewhere, right? Microsoft is a cloud-first company, with Azure making up the bulk of its envious profit margins in recent years. From what I've heard, Xbox is not exploring a major power revision for the Xbox Series X by comparison, and will likely complete the gen with only minor refreshes like the Xbox Series S Carbon Black - although I wouldn't call that confirmed information as of right now. Meanwhile, Sony is plowing ahead with a much-expected 2024 redesign of its PS5, ahead of a more powerful PS5 Pro for 2024 or 2025. Development on the Xbox console dashboard has slowed to a snail's pace, and many fan-requested improvements have simply not been implemented, although we have seen a trickle of new features for things like Discord and the like. I wrote an article a little while ago noting that with Xbox's focus on its huge Activision-Blizzard acquisition, Xbox cloud gaming, and PC, the Xbox console experience is suffering.
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