After failing to gain any serious ground in the market, several of its high profile executive team were moved onto other projects, the corporate equivalent of calling time-of-death.īy wrapping Cloud Gaming around its popular Game Pass platform, Xbox sees how it can succeed where Google ultimately failed. Though it raised eyebrows at the time and publishers like Ubisoft readily came on board, Stadia ultimately fizzled. Google made a lot of noise in the industry when it launched its Stadia cloud gaming platform in 2019. At the most basic biz-dev level, Cloud Gaming is how Xbox can ditch hardware altogether and focus on the things that make them money. Xbox wants to get out of the hardware game so it can sell you a platform instead. When hardware makers get out of the hardware game, as Sega and Atari did, they often refocus on game publishing. This is why EB Games and JB Hi-Fi are always so keen to sell you a bundle. The prevailing industry strategy has always been to recoup those costs on the sale of games and accessories. Manufacturers typically take a loss on every console they sell. Hardware manufacturing has always been an expensive venture. This would certainly serve Xbox’s interests. Provided you have a stable enough internet connection and can afford the monthly Ultimate subscription, the need to even purchase an Xbox console evaporates. I can see this console-free aspect being an attractive prospect for a lot of people. It’s a great service in theory as well as function and certainly feels like it predicts a hardware-free future. All you need is a wireless internet connection, a device with a compatible browser, and an Xbox controller. The service, part of the Game Pass Ultimate monthly subscription, allows users to play games hosted on the Xbox Game Pass platform on just about any device of their choosing.

Xbox Cloud Gaming launched in beta for Australian audiences on October 1, 2021, and has become another feather in Game Pass’s increasingly storied cap.

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