The XBox Thread - Page 207

Microsoft's own streaming tech Project xCloud is potent in of its own right, but it only streams at 720p, up to 30 FPS, and even then, most of the time you can feel the latency. While this makes it perfectly usable for turn-based experiences and games that don't require pinpoint precision, like brawlers maybe, 3D shooters do suffer a fair bit unless you're in absolutely optimal conditions.

Some of the biggest barriers to xCloud isn't necessarily the speed of your network, but the conditions too, namely 5GHz WiFi, or high-quality 5G (with a compatible smartphone). Bethesda's Orion demo showcases DOOM 2016 running at 4K, with 60 frames per second, with "no perceptible latency," which is most likely the ideal end-goal of Microsoft's xCloud tech for Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming.

If it truly works as Bethesda describes, this could be a shot of adrenaline Project xCloud needs to propel the user experience into meetings Xbox lead Phil Spencer's vision of "console-quality" game streaming. The patents associated with this technology and the sole rights to distribution to the SDK will give Microsoft's xCloud another big leap over Google Stadia.

Microsoft may be known as a business software giant, powering most of the world's PCs and building backroom technology and tools. But it's also spent more than $10 billion buying development studios behind some of the most popular video games in the world. To Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, it's all about the future of software.

Though not known as a gamer himself, Nadella's made big bets on the video game industry, buying Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5 billion shortly after he was named CEO in 2014. Then he bought five more studios in 2018, including role-playing game maker Obsidian, known for the space adventure The Outer Worlds and the well-received South Park: The Stick of Truth. In 2019, it bought Double Fine, maker of adventure game Psychonauts.

What's driven him is a belief that interactive entertainment will be a key technology in the next 10 years and that gamers who use Microsoft products expect the company to make titles like those made by the studios he's bought.

"You can't wake up one day and say, 'Let me build a game studio,'" Nadella said in an interview after the company announced its $7.5 billion cash purchase of ZeniMax Media, which owns several industry-leading game developers, including Bethesda Softworks and Id Software. "The idea of having content is so we can reach larger communities."

That's why Microsoft will consider buying even more video game companies in the future, he said, and why it continues to invest in its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

"Content is just the incredible ingredient to our platform that we continue to invest in," Xbox head Phil Spencer said in that same interview. "This doubles the size of our creative organization."

Microsoft's purchases mark the most dramatic ways the company is looking to build up its Xbox brand. They also give the company more games to field in what's increasingly become a hits-driven business.