Paul Morris·

Microsoft Is Building A Game Streaming Service For Xbox One, Windows, Phones; Confirms Work On Next-Gen Console

Phil Spencer, Chief of Microsoft’s Gaming division, has used the annual E3 conference to confirm what most of us already knew: that the company is working on its own cloud-based games streaming service, which will be device agnostic.

This particular project isn’t exactly one of the best-kept secrets in modern times, with plenty of rumors existing for a while now about Microsoft’s desire to offer this type of service.

However, not only has it now been confirmed on the global stage but we’ve also learned a few more details about what Microsoft has in store for the service. According to Spencer, the service will work to bring console-level gaming on “any device,” meaning that it will work across “Xbox, PCs, or phones.”

It’s recently been speculated that the next-generation gaming consoles could be the last due to the possibility of all gaming coming from a cloud-based streaming service allowing us to consume and interact with video games in the same way that we now do with music and movies. It looks as though Microsoft wants to be at the forefront of this shift and will try to achieve what other companies – including Sony – have tried and kind of failed to do successfully.

The purchase of OnLive resulted in the company simply being shut down. Also, Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai has proved relatively successful but only as part of its PlayStation Now offering.

Where other companies have failed, Microsoft is finally looking to get the platform agnostic games streaming service up and running and make it a viable service for global gamers. There have been no timescales placed on this release yet but, now that it’s official, we can expect Microsoft to provide timely updates on its progress.

Spencer also confirmed that his company is deeply involved in the process of creating the next-generation Xbox console, confirming that internal engineers are “deep into architecting” that hardware as well as working hard on the future of artificial intelligence in gaming to try and create more immersive and ultra-realistic games.

As always, more on all of these announcements as they emerge but, for now, it seems that Microsoft has tipped its hat and is going bigger than ever. Over to you, Sony!

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