Phil Spencer, head of gaming and Xbox at MicroSt. In an interview with Strategy, Spencer discusses the possibility of an additional level of Xbox game passes, which could include a free bundle TV stick to play Xcloud games.
“I think you’ll see low-cost hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think of streaming sticks and other things that someone just wants to plug into their TV and play through xCloud,” says Spencer. “You can also imagine we have something that we’ve just included in the Game Pass subscription that gives you the ability to stream exclusive games to your television and buy a controller.”
With guaranteed access to new Xbox hardware, Spencer will also explore the possibility of an “Xbox Game Pass Platinum”. Micro .ft, Xbox Access is bundling Xbox subscriptions and hardware into something called Access, which includes Xbox Game Pass and Xbox, which includes the latest Xbox Series X and Series X consoles. It’s a bundle that Spencer is clearly keen to experiment with in the future.
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The idea of an Xbox game streaming TV stick is not new to MicroSt. The software giant was developing lightweight Xbox streaming devices back in 2016, but canceled the hardware. Micro .ft has been investigating streaming sticks and hardware ever since the company originally demonstrated Halo 4 Streaming from the cloud all the way to Windows and Windows Phone in 2013.
Spencer’s first public mention of Xbox streaming TV sticks suggests that the hardware may be ready soon, though. Microsoft has so far only bundled the Exclusive game with its Class Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Tire (14.99 per month). There is definitely room for extra layers, and for easy access to the front service from just Android devices.
Microsoft partnered with Samsung for xCloud earlier this year, and it’s about time before we see the company’s game streaming service appear on Samsung TV. 2021 could be an exciting year for the cloud, especially as Microsoft plans to upgrade its server blades to more capable Xbox Series X hardware. We should also start appearing exclusively on Facebook gaming next year.
Microsoft is also working on a web-based iOS solution for Microsoft Ft, Xcloud that will launch in early 2021. Spencer confirmed our recent report on this iOS workaround Strategy Interview, but warns that not staying in the App Store is still a challenge for XCloud. “We have a good solution on iOS that I think will come out early next year, I feel good about the solution I have,” says Spencer.
