Xbox chief executive Phil Spencer recently gave an interview with The Verge where he outlined the future direction of the company. Possibly alluding to falling sales for the gaming console from Microsoft, Spencer voiced his disappointment that the expected launch title Halo Infinite was delayed to 2021, as this obviously could have negatively affected sales of the Xbox Series X/S. However, the decline in sales was an industry-wide phenomenon largely due to supply chain problems, and also affected Sony, Nvidia, and AMD.
According to Spencer, “From a business standpoint, I’m selling every console I can build. It’s hard for me to point out how I would be selling more consoles today. I wouldn’t be.”
Spencer had some good words for rival Sony, as he applauded what Sony has done with the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller that is bringing a lot of plaudits.
As game streaming becomes an integral part of the gaming industry, Spencer insists that Microsoft still has plans for another console after the Xbox Series. Spencer also had a few words on Microsoft’s spat with Apple over game streaming.
A major highlight of the interview was that Microsoft is already thinking of adding the Xbox console experience as an app for smart TVs, starting from next year.
When asked a question about the Xbox becoming a TV app, Spencer responded thus: “I think you’re going to see that in the next 12 months. I don’t think anything is going to stop us from doing that.” Going further, he said that TV sets have undergone a massive transformation from just beaming visuals to a device that can now easily take on the functions of many devices we used to have around the TV. The TV has been consolidated into one big screen serving several purposes.
Presently, xCloud is only currently available at 720p and is far from being TV-ready.
The idea that a smart TV could stream xCloud, similar to the way Google uses the Chromecast Ultra for Stadia sounds very appealing. There are however possible complications: Stadia controllers connect directly to WiFi to try and nullify the input lag.
Although Spencer was non-committal on the possibility, we are sure It’s going to happen sooner or later.
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