If we’ve been experiencing a bit of poor image quality from Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming during our Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, it might not be a coincidence.
We recently reported that Microsoft would soon let us run our own games from the cloud, but since then, Tom Warren has revealed more information and given us more details on the plans for Xbox Cloud Gaming. The service, formerly known as Project xCloud, has long lagged in both image quality and latency. Nvidia’s GeForce Now has enabled 4K resolution for years, and recently Boosteroid joined the fray. Meanwhile, Xbox Cloud Gaming is limited to 1080p at a low bitrate, which also affects image quality.
Warren says that Microsoft will soon start to increase the bitrate, which could result in a clearer picture. We don’t know yet if the resolution will also improve, so it’s possible that the Redmond-based tech giant will stick with 1080p. Warren added that if latency improvements are tied to improvements in server hardware, it’s not a certainty that it will happen anytime soon. He also pointed to two features leaked by the developer of Better XCloud (an open source application that improves the experience on multiple devices).
The first such feature is Xbox Together, which lets you play games and hang out with friends while using a web browser. The second is a controller that connects directly to the cloud, which can reduce latency; we’ve seen something similar with Google’s Stadia controller. Both features are being tested internally, and Warren says that Xbox Together is a hackathon project that will probably never make it to the public while Microsoft works on the controller, and that it may be released at some point.
So Microsoft is still trying pretty hard to work on Xbox Cloud Gaming, but there’s still room for improvement. It’s something that will appeal to more people, not just console and PC gamers.
