Revolutionary Gaming Expansion: Xbox Cloud Gaming Sparks New Era for PC Gamers, Reveals Court Docs
Unveiling a groundbreaking courtroom case, court documents indicate that Xbox Cloud Gaming may expand accessibility, potentially bringing PC games to a wider audience
The ongoing FTC vs. Microsoft trial has taken a new turn. Following the intense courtroom showdown in July, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have decided to extend their agreement until October 18, granting them more time. However, leaked court documents have recently unveiled valuable insights into Microsoft's future endeavors within the gaming industry.
According to reports from The Verge, Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, engaged in email discussions in 2021 with Xbox executives Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Kareem Choudhry regarding plans to offer PC games through Xbox Cloud Gaming. This correspondence took place when Google Stadia, now defunct, posed as a potential competitor, as mentioned by Nadella within the email chain.
"Doesn't it seem like Google will have an advantage because they have more generic Linux VMs and Network infrastructure? But I'm assuming we will do the same thing for Game Pass PC, right?" Nadella inquired.
Spencer summarized his thoughts on Stadia and confirmed that the team was actively working on a solution to stream PC games using Azure, Microsoft's cloud platform. "In terms of cost, the generic point is correct," he assured Nadella. "Google can recycle their Linux cloud hardware, and if we stream PC native games from an Azure GPU SKU, we will have more opportunities to recover costs through reuse scenarios."
"Phil is right. Together with Sarah [Bond] and I partnering with Jason's [Zander] team, we are driving the implementation of an appropriate Azure SKU. This is part of a larger initiative to meet the growing customer demand for IAAS and to support the operation of our xCloud PC streaming stack," elaborated Choudhry.
At present, Xbox Cloud Gaming enables game streaming for Xbox games but not for PC games. Although these emails indicate previous intentions to stream PC games via Xbox Cloud Gaming, it is uncertain if this plan is still in effect. Nonetheless, considering Microsoft's recent development of keyboard and mouse support for Xbox Cloud Gaming, the plan remains plausible.
