Halo 5 on Microsoft's xCloud was superb even with fragile Wi-Fi – E3 2019

By Josh Norem

Microsoft is introducing its brand new xCloud gaming streaming service at E3, and I've been able to sit down and try it for myself, as well as discuss technology with its director. General, Kevin LaChapelle. The "cloud game service" only warranted a brief mention in Microsoft's E3 conference. I was therefore very happy to discuss some details with Microsoft.

The company had installed a small demonstration table with a handful of Xbox controllers to which Samsung phones were connected. Although the way the phones were attached to the controller was shouting "pre-beta", the overall setup seemed to work well. Taking over the wireless controller, I immersed myself in Halo 5: Guardians, eager to see how he felt and there was a noticeable latency or slowness. Microsoft said the games were all hosted on its Azure data center in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is about 400 kilometers away.

Overall, as with my Google Stadia demo, Halo worked pretty much exactly as I expected, as they would not show it if it was faulty or it was faulty. The gameplay went smoothly, the graphics looked awesome, and it was exactly what you'd expect if you were trying to stream Halo to your Xbox on your Android phone.

I noticed some artifacts when I did a quick back and forth, and when I asked Mr. LaChapelle about it, he explained that he was not sure about it. was the "Wi-Fi lounge". Specifically, he stated that they were using a connection at 7.5 MB / s, which is slower for Wi-Fi (my home connection is 120MB / s), and also lower for 25 MB / s which Google needed to stream its content to 1080p / 60.

For what is worthwhile, Microsot said that the content transmitted to the demonstration phones was running in 720p and that in my opinion, it seemed rather good despite its "low resolution". I interviewed LaChapelle about her intention to broadcast content at higher resolutions, such as 4K, and more devices, such as TVs.

Overall though, xCloud certainly offers a lot of promise. It works pretty much as advertised and once Microsoft clarifies all the details, it can potentially add value to the owners of Xbox One, especially if it brings a free add-on. None of this is known at the moment, however, Microsoft has not even chosen its name (xCloud is just the name of the project, not the real name). Microsoft promises more details to come, and with rumors that Amazon would like to enter the game's streaming space, this market is about to become really, really interesting.

Josh Norem is the editor of IGN for Tech. When he does not upgrade his PC, he manages Gertie's social media accounts.