Microsoft (MSFT) rolled out several updates and improvements to its Xbox cloud gaming platform on Thursday, including the ability to stream games directly to new Samsung TVs without additional hardware.
The move, which comes during the gaming industry’s annual summer announcement, reflects Microsoft’s ongoing effort to establish an early lead in the cloud gaming market ahead of rivals Sony (Sony) and Nintendo (NTDOY), as well as newcomers such as Amazon. There is one more step in. (AMZN) Luna.
IDC’s director of research for gaming and AR/VR Lewis Ward told Yahoo Finance, “I believe Microsoft is going to have an advantage and they are certainly investing like they have that advantage. “
Cloud gaming is different from your usual console-based gaming, which allows users to stream games over the Internet to low-powered laptops and TVs just as they would movies from Netflix (NFLX).
The cloud gaming industry is still in its early stages and Microsoft and its rivals face many hurdles before the business comes close to replacing traditional modes of gaming. This includes ensuring that cloud gaming is as reliable as playing on a console or PC.
Microsoft is making it easier to get into cloud gaming
The cloud gaming industry is expected to explode throughout 2020. According to Ward, total monthly active users worldwide will grow from just 48 million in 2020 to 150 million in 2025.
The wider gaming industry is still centered around playing games stored on devices, be they smartphones, consoles or PCs. In addition, cloud gaming requires a high-speed Internet connection, and there are many consumers in the US and around the world who do not have access to the required connection speeds.
However, gaming giants like Microsoft and Sony are hoping that they can establish themselves as leaders in cloud gaming, ensuring that they capture both their current console-based users and new gamers in the future.
So far, Microsoft is winning the race with its Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Priced at $14.99 per month, Game Pass Ultimate lets players stream over 100 games via their web browser to their smartphones, Xbox consoles, tablets, PCs, and even Chromebooks.
Sony is officially set to launch its new PlayStation Plus Premium on June 13, offering both cloud gaming and the ability to download titles. Priced at $17.99, the service will not only cost more than Microsoft’s Game Pass Ultimate, it will only let users stream games on the company’s PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles and PC.
Amazon’s Luna, meanwhile, is offered for free to Amazon Prime customers with a rotating selection of games, as well as gaming channels focused on themes like party or family-friendly titles, which you can subscribe to la Cart. Huh.
You can stream the game on PC, Mac, Fire TV and mobile devices. While the service is constantly adding games, Microsoft’s powerful collection of first-party titles and fan base give it a significant advantage over Luna and Sony.
Microsoft’s cloud gaming is on the rise and has the infrastructure to go further
It’s not just the pricing and available games that are giving Microsoft an advantage over Sony and Amazon. Microsoft, unlike Sony, can leverage its enormous cloud computing power to bring cloud gaming to users around the world. Sony has to rely on third-party cloud capabilities to reach potential customers.
Amazon has the same advantage as Microsoft, thanks to its Amazon Web Services cloud platform, but doesn’t have the same level of cash in the gaming business as Microsoft or Sony.
Microsoft rolled out a number of updates and improvements to its Xbox cloud gaming platform (Source: Microsoft)
In addition to expanding its cloud gaming service for Samsung TVs, Microsoft is expanding the platform’s footprint, bringing the service to New Zealand and Argentina. On top of that, Microsoft is trying to meet gamers halfway through, announcing that they’ll soon be able to play some titles purchased digitally for the Xbox console via the cloud.
So if you’ve purchased a game for your Xbox, you’ll be able to stream it to your other devices, even if it’s not in the current Xbox Cloud gaming library.
To be sure, Microsoft and its rivals still have a long way to go before either of them can claim the cloud gaming crown. Cloud gaming is not as popular as console, PC or smartphone-based gaming. And asking consumers to offer another subscription service on their budget could prove difficult, especially as economists and Wall Street analysts are predicting a recession in the near future.
Nevertheless, in the long term, cloud gaming is poised to become another option for gamers around the world. And, for now at least, Microsoft looks dead on being the cloud gaming king.
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