Yesterday, Google took to GDC 2019 and announced its gaming initiative, Stadia. A cloud-based gaming platform that will work across a multitude of devices, including TVs. Something that Google promises will change the way we view gaming. It would seem that this announcement didn’t just attract developers and gamers, but also Xbox’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer.
It’s no secret that Microsoft has also been putting together their own cloud-based gaming service. Which includes a new Xbox One streaming-only device, as well as Project xCloud. Something that Microsoft has stated will have a public trial later this year. It would seem that Phil agrees with what Google has shown off, even if he doesn’t feel that the company has shown anything new.
However, he did release a memo, published by Thurrott, that not only reaffirms Microsoft’s own cloud-gaming strategery. One that promises that Microsoft will be coming to E3 2019 and will finally show off what they’ve been working on for so long. I figured that Microsoft would be paying attention to Stadia’s debut. More so that this is a direct competitor to what Microsoft is working on.
See the entire memo below.
We just wrapped up watching the Google announcement of Stadia as team here at GDC. Their announcement is validation of the path we embarked on two years ago.
Today we saw a big tech competitor enter the gaming market, and frame the necessary ingredients for success as Content, Community and Cloud. There were no big surprises in their announcement although I was impressed by their leveraging of YouTube, the use of Google Assistant and the new WiFi controller.
But I want get back to us, there has been really good work to get us to the position where we are poised to compete for 2 billion gamers across the planet. Google went big today and we have a couple of months until E3 when we will go big.
We have to stay agile and continue to build with our customer at the center. We have the content, community, cloud team and strategy, and as I’ve been saying for a while, it’s all about execution. This is even more true today.
Energizing times.
Phil
If this doesn’t tell you that cloud gaming/streaming wars are being kicked up a notch, then I don’t what else will. Two of the biggest names in technology, with Google and Microsoft, are going to be at E3 2019. Showing off what their cloud gaming platforms can do. However, they aren’t the only names in town, as Nvidia has also been playing with cloud-based gaming with Geforce Now. As well as Liquid Sky, Shadow and a handful of others. As for Sony, many people seem to be dismissing them as they haven’t been as outspoken as the rest when it comes to cloud-based gaming. Many forget that they already have something in place with PlayStation Now. Despite it not being as robust as many had expected, there’s little to believe that Sony isn’t working on upgrading their service as well.
This E3 2019 is going to be interesting, that’s for sure.
