Microsoft is moving the Xbox Console platform to the Cloud, will Sony follow suit or will they focus on console sales?

[Zappy]

Does nobody listen to Phil Spencer when he says they see the cloud as an option alongside, complimentary to, physical hardware?

Its clear that they are able to do both. They've also been clear that the cloud isn't going to replace the experience of dedicated hardware any time soon. Its options.

 

[kc44135]

They aren't moving to the Cloud, they're just providing another option. And frankly, I think it will remain a niche one for quite awhile. I really don't think there is a massive audience that wants to play Halo on their phones. In the future, if/when streaming can match the experience of playing on local hardware, that might be a different story. As for PS, I see them primarily to the traditional approach of local hardware and great software that worked so well for then this gen, with PS NOW just kinda there in the background.

I hope they do, traditional consoles as a concept are pointless now. PCs and hybrid consoles should really be the only hardware solution in the future.

People argue about performance and visual quality with artifacts. But PC's provide that kind of hardware solutions, and online is free.

Hybrids like the Switch try to balance that with some sacrifice to the visuals with the trade off that you don't need to have an internet connection.

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And what about those of us that don't game on PC, or prefer gaming on Console? It seems like some on ERA always seem to act like everyone wants to (or already do) game on PC, but that isn't the case. Speaking personally, I don't want the future to be streaming because it sucks compared to playing on local hardware, I don't want hybrids to be the future because it's a compromise for something I don't really care about (portability) and I don't want PC to be the future, because as great as it is, I always have preferred the affordability, accessibility, and convenience of Console compared to PC (and besides all of that, more options are always better than less). I can't be the only one in this "niche" (100 Million+ PS4's sold says otherwise). I think traditional Consoles still have their place, and if PS4 is any indication, they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Even X1 has done well despite the odds, and despite this article's assertions, Microsoft isn't moving Xbox to the Cloud either, XCloud is just another option.

 

[12Danny123]

I'm confused, Sony's been putting their games on their cloud service for the entire generation and will continue to do so.

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Those are PS Now games. For traditional digital purchases to work in the cloud. You need developers permission. Like I say if Sony were to move the PS Platform to the Cloud by next next gen all those games prior to that next next gen will likely need Sony to ask companies for consent. This is similar to BC for X360 on XB1. The reason why Microsoft isn't allowed to put all X360 games on XB1 is because of Licensing and Agreements.

 

[WhovianGamer]

You haven't been paying attention to the Gamepass discussion? Dumping your AAA flagships on a service for little to no money is thought to be unsustainable as it's currently cannibalizing retail sales in a big way. Microsoft is aiming for the long game though, but we'll just have to wait whether the traditional 'AAA' game has a place on a service like it over more numerous lower budget games with GAAS potential.

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Indeed. Also, what cut are the 3rd parties getting? Those final fantasy titles make bank usually but they are being given away for 'free'. What cut are Square getting? What cut are Activision getting? EA?

 

[UltraMagnus]

In the far future, I think there's going to be some coming amalgam where one of the leading movie services (Disney+, Netflix) joins up with one of the gaming services for an ala cart thing.

 

[12Danny123]

Indeed. Also, what cut are the 3rd parties getting? Those final fantasy titles make bank usually but they are being given away for 'free'. What cut are Square getting? What cut are Activision getting? EA?

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Game Pass, Microsoft pays an upfront cost. However for digital traditional purchases that are played on XCloud, its likely similar to Stadia. Where Stadia users buy a $60 Stadia game and the third-party gets 30% cut.

 

[Sprat]

Microsoft will still make consoles. They just won't care how many they sell.

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They do though. Yesterday Phil said he wanted to be competitive sales wise

 

[UltraMagnus]

I think MS is going to end up destroying the traditional gaming model through Game Pass + xCloud.

I don't say that as a positive/negative, it may well be great for the consumer/gamer.

But I think it's very bad for Sony.

Sony's comfort zone is basically physical hardware and then leaping on hardware mistakes made by MS/Nintendo/Sega to leverage themselves to third party deals. But if that whole hardware model goes kaput ... I think Sony's ability to dominate the traditional console space becomes a giant question mark.

 

[noyram23]

They'll focus on hardware for now because they sell compared to MS, they also have a huge presence on rotw, where MS is neglible, which i'm guessing isn't really ready yet for cloud/streaming due to how far the servers are and worse connection

 

[Dimajjio]

I think it's good to have it as an alternative. For example, if one was a PC gamer then they could now play Gears of War 2 via xCloud (possibly in 4K when Scarlett hardware is put in the data centres) without buying an Xbox console. It really does look like the best option going forward for a lot of people is a PC, xCloud and a PS5.

One thing I do notice however, is that Ubisoft is conspicuously absent from all this. Why are none of their games on Game Pass? Are they planning Uplay+ lite for Xbox in the future? Why can't Microsoft talk EA into absorbing Access into Game Pass?

 

[supkid]

There's a slide from one of the recent PlayStation investor meetings that all but says that Sony will support their games on the cloud as of next gen, it's in a distribution model diagram iirc, I haven't been able to find it though; although it has been posted on here numerous times.

edit: here it is

 

[UltraMagnus]

Even Game Pass to be honest ... it's really changing to value proposition of console games. I think it's something that makes Sony uncomfortable.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Why should Sony do whatever MS doing?

Sony Home consoles always sells 100M+ only PS3 is exceptional and their exclusives first party games sells like hot cake, so why they need to change what is working pretty darn good for them only because the Competition os taking different route?

 

[Deleted member 61179]

Sony and conservative? I believe i get what you mean OP, but Sony has
A) already a running and working streaming service with download option for 4 years
B) has a dedicated VR Headset with multiple studios working on games on the market and
C) has given its audience a really great selection of new IPs this gen to dive in to.

None of which xbox currently has. Its really great to see that ms wants to go all in and gamers should totally take advantage of ms heavily subsidizing its gamepass program.
So far a lot of xcloud and xgs talk is about the future and it remains to be seen how that shakes out.
Its defintley good that ms and sony are competing. Consumers are noticing.
Sony just doesnt't look conservative to me right now.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

Even Game Pass to be honest ... it's really changing to value proposition of console games. I think it's something that makes Sony uncomfortable.

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It will definitively become harder for them to justify that 60 dollar price point towards gamers. Of course I am spreaking rather about the casual audience than the enthusiats.

 

[TheHunter]

Microsoft will still make consoles. They just won't care how many they sell.

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This.

 

[RF Switch]

it's not moving to the cloud, it's adding a way to play through the cloud

 

[nofriendo]

I don't think they are specifically moving to the cloud but more so to services similar to the rest of Microsoft. You can look at the way they are handling Windows, Office and Azure as an example. Of course the fact that these take advantage of the cloud is a major factor. They want people to shift to Xbox All Access and Game Pass so they can lock people into services that generate monthly revenues. This has worked really well for them in other areas. In this sense the idea of the old console wars is dead. It's not just in gaming that this is happening, just look at TV, phones and even stuff like photoshop. Nobody is looking for once of sales revenue but how they can get people into their ecosystem long term.

 

[Jiraiya]

Why should Sony do whatever MS doing?

Sony Home consoles always sells 100M+ only PS3 is exceptional and their exclusives first party games sells like hot cake, so why they need to change what is working pretty darn good for them only because the Competition os taking different route?

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Companies like additional revenue and I'm sure there are Sony consumers who would like more access options to their library.

The amount of consoles Sony sales isn't proof that they shouldn't do this.

 

[Deleted member 52190]

It will definitively become harder for them to justify that 60 dollar price point towards gamers. Of course I am spreaking rather about the casual audience than the enthusiats.

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To them and to any other publisher, what are we going to do, tell everyone they shouldn't charge 60$ because a trilion dolar company is doing a 1$ service with 200 games and risk crashing the entire market?

 

[Terrysaur]

Yeah, the title of this thread is misleading. The next Xbox isn't going to be a cloud-only console – that would defeat the purpose of Xbox Game Pass, too.

 

[nofriendo]

Why should Sony do whatever MS doing?

Sony Home consoles always sells 100M+ only PS3 is exceptional and their exclusives first party games sells like hot cake, so why they need to change what is working pretty darn good for them only because the Competition os taking different route?

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I am sure people said the same about the music industry or in relation to TV/Movies. It's a big move by Microsoft alright but if it pays off it will be huge. People have been saying since back in the 1up days that we were moving towards a consoleless future so while Sony have kicked ass in console sales in the past this does not mean it will always be like this.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

To them and to any other publisher, what are we going to do, tell everyone they shouldn't charge 60$ because a trilion dolar company is doing a 1$ service with 200 games and risk crashing the entire market?

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Genuine question...Do you actually believe there is a 1$ services ?

 

[Deleted member 52190]

Genuine question...Do you actually believe there is a 1$ services ?

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Right now yah, i paid 2$ for 100 games on gamepass pc in october and in november.

 

[bane833]

They don't have to but as they're a company they want to make money and you make much more money selling services than building consoles which have traditionally are small margin.

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Sony is making way way more money with the Playstation division than Microsoft is with the Xbox division. And hardware having small profit margins is an outdated concept, both Sony and Nintendo are making bank with hardware this generation.

 

[azertydu91]

Single player AAA games and cloud based systems don't interfere with each other.

What MS is doing is giving people options. I can play on my console, switch to my PC and play on my phone when i'm traveling.

As someone traveling on average 3 days a week i wish sony would give me those options.

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Why don't you use remote play ?
You can play the games on your ps4 the only problem is for physical games because you can't switch discs and VR games but other than that it works really well.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

Right now yah, i paid 2$ for 100 games on gamepass pc in october and in november.

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What happens after that 2 months ? Do you expect you will pay only 1$ for the rest of your life ? Subscriptions are long term strategies and MS is very likely losing a lot money in the frist couple years.

 

[Jaxar]

Cloud based gaming is the way of the future I believe, but we're still a long way off it replacing consoles as we know them.

 

[UltraMagnus]

It will definitively become harder for them to justify that 60 dollar price point towards gamers. Of course I am spreaking rather about the casual audience than the enthusiats.

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I think we may well be headed to a future where the "I pay $8/month for xCloud, and the only $60 games I buy are my yearly COD or NBA2K" gamer becomes an increasingly large part of the industry creating some kind of new business model.

 

[GTVision]

Sony isn't letting you bring your traditional purchased games to play anywhere.

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PS4 Remote Play let's you do just that as long as you have a Wifi connection.

 

[Deleted member 61326]

Does nobody listen to Phil Spencer when he says they see the cloud as an option alongside, complimentary to, physical hardware?

Its clear that they are able to do both. They've also been clear that the cloud isn't going to replace the experience of dedicated hardware any time soon. Its options.

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This. I think it's awesome that all games will work with both local hardware and via streaming. It simplifies so many things from a consumer perspective. Do you want low latency and deterministic performance? Get a dedicated device. Do you want to play on the go and/or are not sensitive to higher latency? Get cloud solution. And over time I expect the latter to become a bigger and bigger option as Internet performance improves over the world. You will likely first see countries with great infrastructure getting there as a sign in a couple if years.

 

[BlueManifest]

Sony needs to or they are going to get left behind on streaming, PSnow needs a lot of help

 

[Deleted member 52190]

What happens after that 2 months ? Do you expect you will pay only 1$ for the rest of your life ? Subscriptions are long term strategies and MS is very likely losing a lot money in the frist couple years.

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We are jot talking about the future, we are talkig about now.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

I think we may well be headed to a future where the "I pay $8/month for xCloud, and the only $60 games I buy are my yearly COD or NBA2K" gamer becomes an increasingly large part of the industry creating some kind of new business model.

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I was one of those guys back when Modern Warfare 2 released XD I can imagine that a new busniess model will merge with Xcloud. In Europe I can see that for the "I play only Fifa people".

 

[Callibretto]

The way I hope ot will work out is, Sony AAA titles will not be on ps now for at least a year, and if they do, it will be temporary like God of War. This is equivalent to Disney theatrical releases, you're not getting Avengers movie day 1 on disney+

But in addition to the AAA, Sony will invest a lot more on exclusive AA and indie games available on day 1. This will be equivalent of Disney+ originals. I've been hoping for AA games to come back in some form. Subscription service would be a perfect place to bring them back

 

[azertydu91]

Sony needs to or they are going to get left behind on streaming, PSnow needs a lot of help

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That's what I don't understand why is PlaystationNow behind Xcloud?They have the same functionality... the main difference is PR.

 

[Nzyme32]

Moving to the Cloud and Streaming is always online DRM in a different form.

I'll never understand it. I'm too old.

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Not sure about xCloud completely, but I thought the point was this is an extension of what you already own. You can still install and play your game locally, but now you have the option to also play your game on other devices via streaming from their cloud servers.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

That's what I don't understand why is PlaystationNow behind Xcloud?They have the same functionality... the main difference is PR.

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Agree with you. I can imagine they are a bit anxious about promoting PSnow too much as their business model still relies on selling the console.

 

[BlueManifest]

That's what I don't understand why is PlaystationNow behind Xcloud?They have the same functionality... the main difference is PR.

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Xcloud will actually offer new first party game's on day 1 that's the biggest difference

the other thing is PSnow is still 720p hard to believe after 5 years but it is

 

[ScribeofGeadhain]

This is Google Stadia, but 1,000,000 times better. Count me in.

 

[BlueManifest]

This is Google Stadia, but 1,000,000 times better. Count me in.

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Yea if you don't mind playing your games in 30 fps and 1080p, I rather play in 60 fps myself

 

[azertydu91]

Xcloud will actually offer new first party game's on day 1 that's the biggest difference

the other thing is PSnow is still 720p hard to believe after 5 years but it is

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It's not only 720p you can stream at 1080p you just need a cuh 7000 ps4

Look I just took this screen on the app sorry it's in french :


Sometimes I feel people dismiss PsNow thinking it hasn't changed since 2013 but it has you can download games too.

The only advantage Xcloud will have is first party games day 1 but if you're not interested in MS offer compared to sony's then what is their factual advantage(s)?

 

[BlueManifest]

It's not only 720p you can stream at 1080p you just need a cuh 7000 ps4

Look I just took this screen on the app sorry it's in french :


Sometimes I feel people dismiss PsNow thinking it hasn't changed since 2013 but it has you can download games too.

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https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/g...n-now/streaming-downloading-ps-now-games-ps4/

Says 720p only right here

 

[ScribeofGeadhain]

Yea if you don't mind playing your games in 30 fps and 1080p, I rather play in 60 fps myself

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Do you honestly think that wont improve—potentially even in short order as streaming tech continues to grow? Games are the most important aspect of a wide-market service like this and Stadia ain't got many. Most of the original Netflix userbase didn't give a crap about resolution either. Performance and library matter most.

 

[BlueManifest]

Do you honestly think that wont improve—potentially even in short order as streaming tech continues to grow? Games are the most important aspect of a wide-market service like this and Stadia ain't got many. Most of the original Netflix userbase didn't give a crap about resolution either. Performance and library matter most.

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And do you honestly think stadias library won't improve?

 

[thomasmahler]

I think a big problem with all of this is that the peripherals are all across the board awful. Nobody carries a clip with a full controller around and even then, the clip / phone / controller combo feels awful. The balance is all wrong, it just doesn't feel comfortable to play. We'd need something that'd turn our phones into Switch-like devices (or clamshell / slideout controller attachments) with similar ergonomics before this makes any sense.

 

[azertydu91]

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/g...n-now/streaming-downloading-ps-now-games-ps4/

Says 720p only right here

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Great but on the app it says otherwise and it does work.So my point still stands they're only behind on PR.Just check my screenshot top right says optimal 1080p.

 

[BlueManifest]

I think a big problem with all of this is that the peripherals are all across the board awful. Nobody carries a clip with a full controller around and even then, the clip / phone / controller combo feels awful. The balance is all wrong, it just doesn't feel comfortable to play. We'd need something that'd turn our phones into Switch-like devices (or clamshell / slideout controller attachments) with similar ergonomics before this makes any sense.

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I kinda like the clip google is coming out with where the phone floats above your controller

 

[BlueManifest]

Great but on the app it says otherwise and it does work.So my point still stands they're only behind on PR.Just check my screenshot top right says optimal 1080p.

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There is no PSnow app so I don't know what app your looking at or what it says because of the language

 

[azertydu91]

I think a big problem with all of this is that the peripherals are all across the board awful. Nobody carries a clip with a full controller around and even then, the clip / phone / controller combo feels awful. The balance is all wrong, it just doesn't feel comfortable to play. We'd need something that'd turn our phones into Switch-like devices (or clamshell / slideout controller attachments) with similar ergonomics before this makes any sense.

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You need to try to flexible grips not as sturdy nor good looking but you can really balance the weight of your phone making it more comfortable.