Microsoft Game Streaming Service To Hit Mobile And PC

• Microsoft to introduce a new game streaming service.
• Users will be able to play and simultaneously stream hundreds of gaming titles. The feature will extended to PCs and mobiles as well.
• Gamers will not be needed to download each game. This means gamers on low spec systems will also be able to play games they otherwise couldn't.

Multi-Platform availability is the name of the game Microsoft is playing. The software giant is currently preparing to launch a game streaming service that would be made available to multiple devices and manufacturers.

Gamers will now be able to sign up for a subscription plan and get access to different gaming titles which they can stream over the internet. Termed as “Netflix for games,” this service, in essence, will be uniquely different from the current Xbox Game Pass offering. First of all, subscribers won’t be required to download a game title to play it. Also, the service will not be limited to Xbox devices and will also extend to PCs and mobiles as well.

Image courtesy of Daily Star

Microsoft has been reportedly reshuffling their gaming team as they were preparing to launch the new cloud gaming service. Phil Spencer has been appointed as the head of gaming, along with Microsoft veteran Kareem Choudhry, who will head the gaming cloud division.

The company has also been busy acquiring game related companies such as Havok in 2015, Simplygon in 2017, and PlayFab earlier this year. They will play a very important role in helping Microsoft realize their cloud gaming goals.

In an interview with The Verge, Choudhry stated, “Phil really wanted a dedicated team focused exclusively on the gaming cloud[...]Those were conversations that started happening last summer, and we really started creating the structure of the organization at the end of last year.”

Choudhry also has a keen view regarding the future of the gaming industry and how Microsoft will have an impact on it? “We believe there is going to be 2 billion gamers in the world, and our goal is to reach every one of them,[...]We’re looking at ways to make that content available to anyone no matter what device they’re on,” Choudhry stated.

As Microsoft launches its game streaming service, potential gamers on lower end devices will be in luck. Since no games have to be download and run on the system itself, a person simply needs access to a good screen, a Wi-Fi connection, a decent processor and they are good to go - potentially gaining access to and playing games whose minimum requirements were otherwise way beyond their systems capabilities.