Microsoft: Cloud gaming is “inevitable” but “years” from mainstream

With the planned 2019 launch of Project Xcloud, Microsoft isn't ignoring the game industry's current mania for streaming gaming. But in a recent interview, Microsoft Xbox head Phil Spencer tempered near-term expectations for the supposed streaming gaming "revolution" some are expecting.

"I think [streaming] is years away from being a mainstream way people play," Spencer said. "And I mean years, like years and years." Comparing the trend to Netflix's now two-decade-old transition to streaming movies, Spencer said, "I think game streaming will get there faster than 20 years, but it's not going to be two years. This is a technological change. While it seems like it happens overnight, it doesn't.”

[-Foxtrot]

Says the guy who overhyped and made a big deal about the power of the cloud...

[Lennoxb63]

Cloud gaming and cloud compute are not the same thing.

[darthv72]

To the sony faithful... they are one and the same even though everyone else knows the difference.

[scoot_n_loot]

They are part and parcel. Disparaging the cloud is essentially disparaging online gaming and its importance to the future of gaming. Par for the course from your typical n4g'er. If it's not a first person linear action adventure game that comes in a physical format, it should be discredited. Bcuz reasons.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Lennoxb63

"Cloud gaming and cloud compute are not the same thing."

He knows that. Foxtrot just can´t help but hate anything Phil does or says. Since he doesn't even own an Xbox One, i think he´s just obsessed with the guy.

[SierraGuy]

Now I've heard it all.

[rainslacker]

Yeah, cloud streaming is actually more practical than asynchronous cloud computing. Both are limited by peoples connections though.

[King_Noctis]

You may misunderstand between cloud gaming (Xcloud, Stadia) and cloud technology like the one used in CD3.

[ThatDudeMunkee]

I don't agree what-so-ever. Not many gamers want closed environments where they can't mod, tweak, and enhance their experience however they please. That is one massive issue with cloud gaming. There's a reason some people still buy physical over digital, DRM free, etc. No one wants a closed environment, most of us don't even want game streaming, but alas, we're getting to that point.

Also to back the idea this won't work: The United States has some of the worst-possible internet and it won't support it. Bandwidth caps are an issue, rural areas can barely get 100+ Mbps (don't believe me? Come to places like great plains and the midwest, we still struggle with getting 100+ Mbps unless you live in a bigger city).

Also: You may misunderstand what Phil Spencer wants to do. He wants game streaming to be delivered like Netflix. Cloud streaming is the next step to delivering top-notch gaming experiences solely through streaming and nothing else, I'm pretty sure Fox doesn't misunderstand a thing.

[Godmars290]

Talked it up as the backbone of the XB1 only to put out, not one but, two consoles to compensate for the lack of power the original XB1 "didn't" have. What the cloud was suppose to more than make up for.

[Obscure_Observer]

@-Foxtrot

"Says the guy who overhyped and made a big deal about the power of the cloud..."

You´re just mad that Xbox consoles aren´t goin anywhere. ;)

[Godmars290]

More like sick of MS insisting that something is the future, like the cloud or Kinect and AR over VR, only to misrepresent it much less their readiness to offer it.

We want them to go somewhere, but if that place isn't fundamentally solid, is not only conjecture but has to be further developed and paid for to access, then yes, out of sight/mind is a good place to go too.

[rainslacker]

It would seem more prudent for MS to show they can at least compete with the same capacity in a market regularly before they start talking about how they're going to dominate it, or talk about what the future of said market will be, and how they're going to change the market. Sony is dominating the console market right now, and they havent talked up psnow as much in all the time since buying gaikai that Spencer and MS have talked about xcloud and its effects on the future. Sony doesn't even say it's as great as often as Spencer and MS have made mention about how great they're going to be one day.

[Obscure_Observer]

@rainslacker

Well, what Spencer has to say shouldn´t bother you, specially when he talks about the future of Xbox which you won´t be part of.

@Mars

Yeah, Microsoft made mistakes. A lot. But hey, Phil Spencer is here and he´ll be here for at very least another generation of game consoles. Why waste your time and energy if you already know what to expect?

[XabiDaChosenOne]

Lol would you look at that, another 180 from Phil Spencer and his clergy.

Phil Spencer on Google Stadia reveal:
“Their announcement is validation of the path we embarked on two years ago,”
https://www.theverge.com/20...

Phil Spencer a couple months later:

"I think [streaming] is years away from being a mainstream way people play,"

This guy is a con artist, a massive joke.

[Srhalo]

It's funny how much double talk this guy spews. Just a few months ago streaming was the big thing there was going to be two consoles a streaming one and a more powerful one now were down to one console and streaming is years away.

I can't believe anyone actually takes anything this guy says seriously.

[UltraNova]

The xcloud stress test results must be in and Phil is now on pre-emptive damage control.

[rainslacker]

He did the same thing with cloud compute, VR, and DX12. However with dx12, the community was more at fault for thinking it was going to be more than it was for the x1.

[Prem8tuaProcrastin8a]

He actually said "streaming" was years away from being mainstream. MAINSTREAM, meaning that whenmost people will do it is years away, not that it doesn't work now. Btw, everyone who says that the power of the cloud isn't real conveniently forgets psnow is cloud powered. Stadia is cloud powered, Netflix is cloud powered. Nearly all online services are cloud powered. So you think that ALL computational tasks can be handled by servers on services such as psnow in time for button presses, but non latency sensitive tasks such as physics and lighting etc can't be offloaded to servers in order to free up resources on the local machine? That's a totally logical theory /s 🤔

[IRetrouk]

Been saying this for ages, the input lag alone....

[NeoGamer232]

There have been technical issues that have been overcome since the beginning of personal computing.

When I saw Lotus 1-2-3 as a spreadsheet the first time it took 20 mins to load a 300 line spreadsheet. On my Commodore 64 it took ten minutes to load games, audio streaming was a joke for the first 5 years, movie streaming took 20 years to become ubitious. Games will eventually be streamed as the primary method to play, but that reality has to overcome the technical issues.

[IRetrouk]

Only if we allow it to become the main way we game, streaming will never match local hardware for responce time etc, not in our lifetime anyway.

[CYALTR]

I find that statement very short sighted unless you are like 75 years old, and I'm pretty sure most here are not. Just look at the tech changes that have happened over the last 20 years. Change is happening faster and faster. I'm 50 and I feel pretty confident that those things will happen in my lifetime. Of course I could die tomorrow, so I guess I have to allow for that!!

[IRetrouk]

Seriously? Go research how streaming games works, the process will never be as fast as local hardware, it just cant.

[bluefox755]

Not inevitable for me.

[Shikoku]

It's decades away thank goodness.

[Lennoxb63]

Decades? No. Close to a decade? Absolutely.

[Shikoku]

No its decades away. Yes decades and that's good because by then hopefully the next gaming crash happens and ends this dumbass idea

[yellowgerbil]

That's what thanos said and look how it turned out for him...

[UltraNova]

Thanos would be MS in your analogy. So who are the Avengers supposed to be?

[King_Noctis]

“who are the Avengers supposed to be?”

On this site? Totally Sony.

[yellowgerbil]

Nope. Cloud gaming. Thought that was pretty obvious by my comment. Just like thanos, cloud gaming is dust in the wind

[UltraNova]

I'd say cloud gaming would be MS infinity gauntlet :-)

[xander70769]

I will never buy into cloud gaming/ streaming-only gaming. Not even in years and years and years from now. If a developer wants to make a game that is online only and benefits from cloud tech, that's fine. I probably just won't play those types of games. But the moment the industry moves as a whole to that being the only way to play, I'll be done. I'll be a "retro gamer" that hangs on to his old PS5 and 3DS etc.

[ShadowWolf712]

That's only the future because y'all want it to be. The games industry never ceases to try to find ways to strip people of actual ownership of their games, that's simply the final step.

And before someone tries to be smart and chime in with that "READ THE TOS AGREEMENT YOU DON'T OWN EVEN YOUR PHYSICAL GAMES": BS. You don't own the content ON the disc, but you still own the disc. You can still sell it, trade it, lend it, rent it, whatevs. That just stipulates you understand that this doesn't mean that you can do whatever you want with the content on the disc itself, such as copy and redistribute it.

I can't believe I have to clarify that, but it's N4G.

[ElementX]

Do you think the hardware will be available to play all of those games, movies, music, etc in 30 years? You'll have to keep buying used if you want to enjoy that media in the future. Not every future technology will be backwards compatible. Do Blu-Ray players play VHS? Do CD players play cassettes? Nobody knows what media will be in the future and you can't guarantee the hardware will play older technology. Better stock up on old consoles now because yours will eventually break and they won't keep making them. At least with digital you don't have to worry about a specific media reader.

[UltraNova]

With digital you "only" need to worry if the games you owned will seize to exist one day because a suit decided so...

Yeah....No thanks.

[ElementX]

Except that has never happened to my knowledge. Steam, PSN, and Live have all delisted games however people who bought digital copies can still download and play them.

Most games require patches these days, even on day one. If you do hold on to a disc for 20 years, will patches be available? Probably not. You'll have a broken mess of a game that's basically worthless, but I guess you can use the disc as a coaster. Both physical and digital have downsides

[AK91]

No no its not, it's a cool feature but it should mainly be used to get older games from older hardware to current gen consoles. Trying to stream 4K quality games from this generation would be an absolute nightmare.

[CYALTR]

I really don't get all the hate about this. Does everyone here lack the foresight to envision technological changes. Gaming is technology, tech changes and evolves. Sure cloud streaming is not a possibility right now, but that tech changes quickly. In 5 years, who knows where we will be. I'm sure even then it will not be a option for many, but it will be an option for many others. Why is this such a big problem for everyone.

Not everyone has high speed internet available to them now, but mulitplayer online gaming is still a big thing, just not for those still running dial up. I'm not sure where the idea that this is being pushed down everyone's throat is coming from. Spencer is also on record as saying he doesn't feel consoles are going anywhere anytime soon, cloud tech is just where things are moving, for those who have the capability. I think more options are always better.