Google Stadia has been released, and the battle for cloud gaming is gearing up as more big-name competitors prepare to enter the fray.
Stadia has struggled a bit during the launch, and some of the features that were promised are not yet available. Microsoft will learn from the experience of the competitor as it is hard at Project xCloud, a cloud gaming service that is still in beta.
Cloud gaming is shaping up to be an excellent service as it would allow users to enjoy their favorite titles on a weaker machine since powerful servers do the heavy lifting. Sony was the first major company that decided to enter the fray as PlayStation Now was released in 2014, but the service is available in a limited number of countries.
Even those who own a strong gaming console or PC run into some issues. For example, many console gamers struggle with limited storage space as the devices offer a maximum amount of 1TB of storage space. Every game has to be installed if you want to play it, and when you own a large number of titles, it is impossible to install all of them at the same time and on a single device.
xCloud is shaping up to be better than Google Stadia
Project xCloud allows gamers to enjoy AAA titles on the go as it runs on smartphones, which is an excellent advantage for many potential customers.
There is also the problem of business models. Many were disappointed by the fact that you will have to buy a Stadia- exclusive of a title that you want to play, and the prices are quite high even for old titles.
Those who will opt to use the service offered by Microsoft will be able to play all the games that are included with the Xbox Games Pass. The popularity of services like Netflix proves that people aren’t too keen on on-demand solutions, and Project xCloud and similar services will likely be more popular than Stadia.
