When we found out that Xbox was going to be pushing into the future with cloud gaming, it was a big deal. With services like Game Pass being considered the future of games, we’re going to need ways to make playing them easier. The potential of a cloud system, where games can be accessed quickly, is a revolutionary one. Ever since consoles started downloading the games we play directly to the box it’s led to an unfortunate side effect where you can’t play a game immediately upon purchase. Cloud gaming would not only assist with moving past that problem but would also bring the potential of a Netflix-like video game service closer to reality.
We’re going to finally be able to see that reality this holiday season. During the Xbox Gamescom presentation on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that they will be implementing cloud gaming to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S this holiday season, for Game Pass Ultimate members. No more waiting for video games to download before we can play them. The future is now.
“We’ve been listening to our gamers and have heard their feedback loud and clear: they want to try new games fast without waiting for an install to finish. Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on Xbox consoles lets you play new games faster than ever, optimizing space and saving you time.” – Catherine Gluckstein, Vice President & Head of Product & Strategy for Xbox Cloud Gaming
“With cloud gaming on your console, finding your next favorite game is as easy as clicking ‘Play.’ … Excited to try the latest release, but don’t want to wait? Get playing quickly and easily without having to install the game first, including playing Xbox Series X|S games on your Xbox One.” – Jake Rosenberg, Senior Program Manager at Xbox
While obviously cloud gaming is an exciting idea, this is something we’ll need to see in action before we can start crediting Microsoft for pushing video games forward. While it’s very likely that we can launch a game from the cloud immediately on day one, we are going to have questions about stability. Will there be a lag or delay when playing these games? How will this impact players without speedy internet connections? What about those with data caps? We’ll obviously know more once this starts hitting consoles.
Even with those concerns, it’s still cool to know that the technology is finally here to make this a possibility on all consoles. The complaint of games taking too long to download has been a huge one for multiple console generations now and with video games moving in a more digital direction it was a problem that needed to be solved.