Microsoft Project xCloud – The Future of Gaming?

Gaming is one of the entertainment industries that has been revolutionised most with the power and development of the internet. Microsoft is about to take the web’s influence on gaming up a notch with their xCloud game-streaming platform, that will put the choice of device into the gamer’s hands.

xCloud will effectively be like a cloud-based gaming library that will be accessible across multiple devices like PC, consoles, or mobile devices. It’s a pretty significant step because, traditionally, games are specifically designed for a single platform and there wasn’t really an overlap. With xCloud, though, they’ll be using a library of Xbox games and allowing them to be accessed from the same platform onto different devices.

Setting up a digital bank of Xbox-based games and allowing them to be accesses on PC, your Xbox, or your tablet, is quite an impressive feat.

They’re even working on game-specific touch-screen overlays for gamers who prefer not using controllers and who have become accustomed to gesture controls. Microsoft is currently testing smartphones and tablets paired up with Bluetooth Xbox controllers to see how they perform on those devices.

They haven’t given an exact date for when they plan to launch this service, but public testing of the platform is expected to kick off next year – so keep your eyes peeled for updates relatively soon.