Microsoft has been talking up the power of the cloud ever since the Xbox One’s initial reveal. They may have made a 180 on all the policies that were going to define the Xbox One since the console’s initial unveil, but one consistent part of their messaging so far has been the ‘power of the cloud’ and how it will ultimately help games on the Xbox One. As recently as last week, Microsoft unveiled a game at E3- Crackdown- that would actively benefit from being connected to the cloud.
Well, Eurogamer reports that they seem to be shifting their focus now from the cloud to dedicated servers. Not only was ‘the cloud’ not mentioned at all over Microsoft’s E3, but in post E3 interviews that Eurogamer had with Microsoft, Phil Harrison had this to say:
“Xbox Live is the service. Dedicated servers is the benefit. That is the reason why these games are going to be better, why the experience for multiplayer is going to be better.
“And we’re being clear, hopefully around all of the games that will take advantage of it, whether it is a game like Forza Horizon 2, or whether it’s Halo: The Master Chief Collection, particularly the Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer beta.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean Microsoft is not using the power of the cloud for its games- as mentioned above, the upcoming Crackdown, as well as Forza Horizon 2 will both be cloud connected. But they do seem to be moving away from making it a central part of their messaging.