It’s not enough that some of the features of Game Pass Ultimate are unpopular; it also appears to be operating at a loss.

One of the concerns raised by Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the future of cloud gaming. This, it seems, is also a concern for Xbox executives with Game Pass Ultimate.

During cross-examination earlier in the Microsoft-FTC hearing, Sarah Bond, Xbox’s corporate vice president of games, dismissed suggestions about the future growth of Xbox cloud gaming. As well as the idea that it would be a different market. She suggested that it is mainly used as “just a console”.

Xbox Cloud Gaming does not seem to be popular compared to other features of Game Pass Ultimate. In fact, it is operating at a loss. Here’s what he said, courtesy of IGN:

“What we’ve found is that it’s really being used by our players as a feature for the console… Because what people can do is when you go in to start playing a game, instead of waiting to download it, you can start playing it right away while it’s downloading in the background, and that’s actually the majority of the usage of xCloud gaming today, is it’s just a console feature.”

Bond went so far as to admit that this isn’t always the most ideal way to play either. He explained that games streamed to devices are designed for next-generation consoles. So it’s “not always the best gaming experience”.

Although Call of Duty was the main talking point in the early stages of Microsoft’s acquisition, both the FTC and the UK CMA have drawn attention to cloud gaming. Many concerns have been raised about the potential future dominance of the tech giant in this fast-growing market.

Source: IGN