Sarah Bond: Xbox Cloud Is Game Pass Ultimate's Least Popular Feature, Says Service Running at a Loss
Xbox says cloud gaming is primarily used as a console feature right now.
Xbox's Sarah Bond has revealed that Xbox Cloud Gaming is not popular relative to the other features included in Game Pass Ultimate and that it's currently running at a loss.
During her cross-examination at today's trial between Microsoft/Activision and the Federal Trade Commission, Bond was asked about how Xbox players utilize cloud gaming across consoles and mobile devices. Bond explained that users primarily use cloud gaming on console, rather than on mobile devices or PC.
“What we’ve found is that it’s really being used by our players as a feature for the console," Bond said. "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.”
Cloud gaming has been a huge point of contention in Microsoft's legal battles to push the Activision Blizzard acquisition through. Agencies like the FTC and the UK's Competition and Markets Authority have continually brought up cloud gaming as a reason the transaction should be blocked. The CMA specifically cited the, "future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market" when it officially moved to block the acquisition.
What we've found is that it's really being used by our players as a feature for the console
When asked if she thought xCloud and streaming games was a separate market, Bond called cloud gaming a feature and delivery mechanism used primarily on consoles. She also said that the cloud gaming experience is not always ideal.
“The games that are being streamed are games built for the console, but they’re being streamed to a different device, so it’s not always the best player experience.”
For more on today's trial, check out Xbox's admission that it lost the console wars. Plus, Xbox's Matt Booty said a decision hasn't been made on a PlayStation version of The Outer Worlds 2. For everything else important, check out our article on how to watch the trial and our coverage so far.
Additional reporting by Rebekah Valentine.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
