Google has been struggling in the space currently ruled by Sony and Nvidia, can Microsoft take the crown?
For now, the browser-based game streaming services are an uncluttered bunch. There are only three major players in the space, Sony’s PlayStation Now, Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Google’s Stadia.
Neither of them have set the market on fire, but Google’s game streaming service is struggling the most. With news that it had shuttered its Stadia games division, this leaves Google with no exclusives to go up against the might of Sony and Microsoft.
Which brings us to xCloud for the web. Sources close to the publication The Verge have revealed that Microsoft has begun testing its xCloud gaming service on the browser. There should also be a public preview of the service coming soon.
It also finally allows a decent cloud service to exist on Apple’s devices, who have so far shunned game streaming from the app store citing violations on its app store policies.
Similar to the interface on Android phones and tablets, the web version has a simple launcher that has the ability to resume played titles and gives you access to the complete library of games available through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
You will need a controller to play games made for the Xbox and Microsoft has already said it is going to upgrade its servers to Xbox Series X hardware this year. This will likely come to the Xbox app on Windows 10 too, which makes an already sweet deal for the Xbox Game Pass that much sweeter.
Of the three services currently available, Nvidia’s GeForce Now is the only solid contender but is limited by the number of games it currently supports. Sony offers a substantial portion of its PlayStation exclusives on its platform but once again, the choices are slim.
Google’s Stadia has been struggling since launch. There appears to be no takers so far for Google’s game streaming platform. It would be safe to assume that Google isn’t done just yet with game streaming but then again they did shut down the Stadia games division barely a year in.
