Trenches for the Next Console War?
As if the studio headhunt wasn’t enough proof of their investment, today Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Highlighted the company’s plans for expansions. Particularly, he brought to light their ambitions in the gaming sphere. In order to expand the Xbox community and go beyond the reach of its competitors, Microsoft is investing more aggressively in its content.
During the annual shareholders meeting, Nadella addressed investors on the video game front: current subscribers, software performance, and the like. He expects the Xbox Live network to run deeper than its current 57-million subscriber base, by utilizing the potential of services like Mixer and Game Pass.
”in gaming, we’re pursuing an expansive opportunity from the way the games are created and distributed to how they’re played and viewed,” he said. “And we’re investing aggressively in the content, community and cloud services across every endpoint to expand the usage and deepen engagement with gamers, including the 57 million monthly Xbox Live users. Finally, we added seven new gaming studios to bolster the first party content for fast-growing gaming services like Xbox Game Pass subscription service as well as Mixer”
Another Microsoft rep expanded on Nadella’s plan by mentioning two key ingredients. He believes that Xbox Game Pass will extend its reach beyond gamers and induct casual audiences into Xbox Live. Second, he believes that Project xCloud will offer unparalleled convenience by streaming products on all devices. From how it sounds, the cloud service is an evolution of Xbox Play Anywhere that shares games between PCs and console. Except, users will stream (not download) all software entertainment products.
“Earlier this year, we introduced the Xbox Game Pass, a content subscription service for gaming,” the rep added. “Just like with Spotify and Netflix have done for music and video, Xbox Game Pass will allow us to reach beyond the two billion people playing games today. With over a hundred games available for just $10 a month, we are truly excited to bring gaming to everyone. But we’re also building a robust cloud platform so that anyone can play the games they want with the people they want at any time and place, and most importantly, on any device.
“Earlier this year, we announced Project xCloud, our future streaming gaming platform with the goal of delivering a quality experience for all gamers on all devices. We’re building a service that’s consistent with the speed and high fidelity that gamers expect on their PCs and their consoles.”
It’s no surprise that the computer giant has laid foundations to become the Netflix of games. Considering the competition, however, can they manage the execution? If anyone has pockets deep enough, it’s Microsoft. After the addition of five development teams to their worldwide studios, they managed to add two more with inXile and Obsidian.
What are your thoughts on the future of Xbox Game Pass and Projet xCloud? Let us know in the comments below.
SOURCE: Wccftech