Microsoft suggests turning Xbox into an app for your TV

Microsoft is in the early stages of rolling out its xCloud streaming service to mobile devices, but TVs are the next logical step. In an interview with The edge, Xbox chief Phil Spencer has revealed that we’ll likely see an Xbox app appear on smart TVs within the next year or so. “I think you’re going to see it in the next 12 months,” said Spencer, when asked about the transformation of Xbox into a TV app. “I don’t think anything is going to stop us from doing this.

Spencer previously hinted at TV streaming sticks for Microsoft’s xCloud service last month, and this latest hint suggests we could see similar hardware or an Xbox app for TVs in 2021. Microsoft is currently working to bring xCloud to the web to enable it on iOS devices, and this work would naturally allow xCloud to spread to TVs, browsers and elsewhere.

Microsoft previously worked on a lightweight Xbox streaming device in 2016, but it rolled back the hardware. Microsoft has been testing the idea of ​​streaming and TV sticks since the company’s initial demo Halo 4 streaming from the cloud to Windows and Windows Phones since 2013.

Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge

While Microsoft could go ahead with xCloud, it certainly has no plans to ditch consoles or hardware. “I don’t think these will be the last big pieces of hardware we ship,” says Spencer. Instead, Microsoft sees a future where there is a hybrid of local hardware and cloud hardware. “When we think of xCloud, which is our version of Stadia or Luna, I think what it needs to scale is games that actually work between a hybrid cloud environment and local compute capacity,” says Spencer. . “It’s really a hybrid between the two.”

How this hybrid works could mean that we’ll soon see Xbox Series S and X consoles accessing xCloud. This could allow players to try out a game quickly before fully downloading it from Game Pass, or maybe even stream a demo of a game before purchasing it.

Microsoft is also planning to integrate xCloud into Facebook Gaming in the future, so we are clearly going to see a lot of changes in xCloud soon. We still don’t have full details on Microsoft’s plans for Xbox TV apps, but the company partnered with Samsung earlier this year for xCloud. Microsoft also plans to upgrade its blade servers to the higher performing Xbox Series X hardware at some point in 2021.

You can read or listen to Nilay Patel’s full interview with Phil Spencer here.