Phil Spencer Says Streaming Is About “Convenience”; Locally Still Best Way To Play

While the future may be streaming heavy, we aren't there just yet.

Posted By | On 26th, Dec. 2019

Phil-Spencer

When it comes to streaming, by and large, the big companies have been mostly glowing about its role in the future. And it is exciting, no doubt, the idea that you’ll be able to stream any game from any place. But there’s a lot of challenges to game-based streaming that many don’t seem to have a good answer for. Google’s Stadia service, for instance, has stumbled quite a bit out of the gate as the first major streaming based gaming platform. It seems someone else is wanting to maybe pump the brakes on the excitement just a tad with Phil Spencer giving a bit more of a realistic take about where he sees the company’s upcoming xCloud streaming service.

Talking to Game Infromer, Spencer and several other members of the xCloud team talked about the service. One aspect that was focused in is latency with the team acknowledging there’s still challenges there. And Spencer laid down bluntly that he sees xCloud, and streaming in general, as a convenience for those with the ability to utilize it.

“The best place to play is locally; I’ll say that flat-out,” he says. “Streaming is a technology of convenience. It’s a technology of choice when you’re away from your console and you want to play.”

Indeed, streaming is probably something of a godsend if you have the internet to handle it, as well as not having to worry about data caps. But those challenges are still out there and, until they’re sorted, are going to be an issue for a lot of players. Unlike movies and music, game streaming uses a significant amount of data very quickly. It’ll be interesting to see the technology evolve, but as of now, Spencer is probably right on the money.


Tagged With: ,

Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Marvel Rivals Announced – 6v6 PvP Shooter Receives PC Alpha Test in May

Marvel Rivals Announced – 6v6 PvP Shooter Receives PC Alpha Test in May

Playable characters include Spider-Man, Hulk, Magneto, Iron Man and many more, with Team-Up Skills and destruc...

PS5 Pro “Won’t Grow the Market”, Some Developers Don’t Understand “the Point of It” – Report

PS5 Pro “Won’t Grow the Market”, Some Developers Don’t Understand “the Point of It” – Report

"Developers didn’t feel they needed it, at least the ones I spoke to," says GamesIndustry.biz founder Christ...

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 Update Adds Pause Menu to Metal Gear Solid 2 on PC

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 Update Adds Pause Menu to Metal Gear Solid 2 on PC

Metal Gear Solid 3 on Steam also gets an Additional Settings menu with audio and screen options, mouse sensiti...

Stellar Blade – Combat, Cinematics, and Bosses Revealed in New Demo Gameplay

Stellar Blade – Combat, Cinematics, and Bosses Revealed in New Demo Gameplay

The demo goes live on March 29th for PS5 and features the opening sections. Progress carries over into the ful...

Microsoft Gaming CEO Discusses Potentially Having Epic Games Store and Other Storefronts on Xbox

Microsoft Gaming CEO Discusses Potentially Having Epic Games Store and Other Storefronts on Xbox

"Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience...

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Guide: All Vocations, How to Unlock Them and Best Abilities

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Guide: All Vocations, How to Unlock Them and Best Abilities

Everything you need to know about mastering vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2.