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Rumor has it that Xbox One games will soon be playable on the Nintendo switch. According to Direct Feed Games, then Game Informer and JeuxVideo, Microsoft plans to bring Xbox games, such as Ori and the blind foreston the Nintendo eShop and allow Game Pass subscribers to access the service catalog via Project xCloud streaming. In theory, this would mean that Gears of War and Halo would make their first appearance on Nintendo hardware. But the potential of this game book is much bigger than the Switch.
It may seem shocking at first, but if we get Xbox games on Nintendo hardware, it will be the result of an ambitious strategy developed by Microsoft for half a decade. Under the leadership of Phil Spencer, the Xbox management has focused on making the transition and expanding the idea of the Xbox console from a console to a platform, from an accessible device in your living room to a service accessible everywhere.
In the fall of 2015, I had the opportunity to discuss the future of the company with Spencer and a few other members of the Xbox management team. It was shortly after the company had acquired Minecraft, a megahit multiplatform that suggests the potential of games that were not perceived as local by consoles, PCs or phones.
Here is how Spencer described the changing direction of the Xbox beyond traditional gaming hardware.
"I like this console experience," says Spencer. "This is obviously the heart of the Xbox, and Xbox One is our main gaming device within the company. there is no doubt. We also know that millions of players are accessing Microsoft. [in other ways,] whether it's Windows, their phone or Skype – it can be different every day […] I do not want to dilute what the customer feels about the Xbox console. I want to develop what we can do for more customers. "
Since then, Spencer and his company have launched a number of services and initiatives to transport Xbox games beyond the console. The Windows 10 Xbox app allows Xbox One owners to stream their games from their console to their PCs. Xbox Play Anywhere simplifies gaming purchases, so that players who buy certain games on Xbox One automatically receive it on PC, and vice versa; Game Pass is the company's proposed solution for Netflix games for games and it is assumed that this version will develop under Windows 10 this year; Project xCloud promises to run Xbox games on consoles, PCs and smartphones; and Xbox Live will be available soon on iOS, Android and Switch.
Each of the above mentioned projects helped Microsoft maintain the interest of the Xbox brand during an approximate console build for the company. But the most interesting of these services – Game Pass, xCloud, etc. – is their merger potential and become even more ambitious. For example, the Netflix type Game Pass currently requires players to download each game on an Xbox One. But combined with the Project xCloud streaming service, subscribers could read the Game Pass catalog on anything that has a strong Internet connection.
This is the backbone of the rumored Nintendo Switch. But more importantly, this combination could ensure that every smart TV, smartphone, and less expensive plug-in streaming device like Roku – all of which have a much greater ownership of Nintendo's hardware – become Xbox platforms.
As the owner of Switch, the idea of Game Pass is exciting, but I wonder how Microsoft will convince Nintendo to leave the service on the competing platform. Does Nintendo want Switch owners to read dozens of Game Pass games when they could buy Switch games? Maybe the answer implies that Microsoft put more games on the eShop Switch. Maybe Game Pass is helping Nintendo to sell more consoles during the long trips separating the new Nintendo owners games? Maybe Nintendo and Microsoft believe that their audiences do not overlap enough to cause concern? Anyway, there are still many question marks that could stand in the way of an agreement. Although the two companies have become warmer one with the other this generation, a potential partnership of this magnitude seems more realistic than it would have been five years ago.
But the answer is simpler with regard to the real money maker for Microsoft: the Xbox as a streaming platform available on all application stores. Microsoft could offer its streaming service to any smart TV and any streaming device without all of that back-shop needed to switch and reach a significantly larger audience.
I would not be surprised if we see all the above. If we rely on the reports of others, it seems that Microsoft is trying to bring Xbox Game Pass to Switch, but what really will change is if – like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon – Xbox becomes an application preinstalled on your next TV.
No, this is not the end of the Xbox console. Spencer has already confirmed that the future material is in progress. It is rather he who plays on a field of years ago. "As a game manager at Microsoft," said Spencer. "I'm thinking of how we make sure all of these customers feel supported and engaged like the Xbox fans who have a game console."
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