Microsoft Exploring Game Streaming for Next Xbox

The next Xbox may feature game streaming. Now before you assume a true Netflix-style experience with every single element of a game delivered to you via the Internet on the Xbox One successor, that’s far from the case. According to industry insider Brad Sams, Microsoft is exploring options that allow it to integrate game streaming into the next Xbox. Though keep in mind that there are way too many factors to consider before opting for a fully-fledged streaming approach. For those of us around during the Xbox One’s launch, this is reminiscent to the company’s “power of the cloud” approach that backfired following significant community outrage.

“While we might think of game streaming as meaning that the entire game is streamed in real-time from a cloud server, there are more realistic possibilities in the near-term while the latency challenge is overcome. For example, imagine a game where the environment is dynamically updated from the cloud as you explore the map so that it becomes never-ending or have a city that is updated dynamically with local weather and traffic so that you can experience traffic jams in the virtual world as they occur in real life…exciting,” Sams’ post reads.

“But, these are the scenarios that are being explored as it will be unlikely that a switch is flipped to a fully-streaming service as there are still too many variables still in place and the ability for local gaming still needs to be a viable option for the long-term.”

In addition to this, Sams claims that Microsoft is in no rush to launch its next Xbox, being fully aware that the Xbox One X is significantly more powerful than the PS4 Pro. It will be “be backward and forwards compatible, much like the Xbox One X” he states.

Last week it surfaced that Microsoft is staffing up for its true Xbox One successor. What's more is, a job listing on the company's website spotted by members of popular gaming forum ResetEra suggests that the next Xbox may use GDDR6 memory versus GDDR5 on the Xbox One X. Microsoft is looking for a senior engineer to head up its DRAM solutions for Xbox hardware specifically citing "GDDR6 and future DRAM technologies". It's an interesting turn of events considering that at one point of time, Microsoft wanted your Xbox One to be a gaming PC, implying the end of Xbox as a closed console hardware platform and a more open approach to development. Evidently the Xbox One X's success has changed this.

With the PS5 in the works at Sony and Nintendo inevitably planning for an iteration to the Nintendo Switch, it's heartening to see Microsoft continuing to build on the momentum we've seen with the Xbox One of late. Hopefully the company won't forget to make exclusive games for the next Xbox.

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