Despite rumours that the company was looking to beef up the library of its upcoming streaming service with xCloud exclusive games, Microsoft has confirmed it has “no plans for cloud-exclusive content at this time”.
Stevivor reported that Microsoft’s Kareem Choudhry told Australian outlets in a group interview at X019 in London that the company was “in early talks” with first- and third-party developers.
“In terms of [Project xCloud] exclusives, we’re in early talks with first- and third- parties, but we don’t have any announcements to share,” Choudhry reportedly told the outlet at the time, adding: “New content and IP takes eighteen months to two years [to develop].”
However, Microsoft has since released a statement saying it had “no plans” to add platform-exclusive content to xCloud yet despite the news the company has expanded its initial launch line-up to 50 titles from more than 25 partners, including 505 Games, Bandai Namco, Capcom, EA, Square Enix, Take Two and Wargaming, as well as UK based publishers such as Codemasters, Curve Digital, and Team17.
“We are investigating a variety of new capabilities made possible by the cloud,” the statement said. “However, we remain committed to an approach with game streaming that is complementary to console and have no plans for cloud-exclusive content at this time.”
MCV/Develop also sat down with Choudry at the event, during which he outlined the key ingredients he considers vital for streaming success.
“We really think the key ingredients are the three C’s: content, community and cloud,” Choudry said. “We’ve got a phenomenal first-party cloud in Azure with 54 regions, 140 countries, an incredible incredible asset. We have the content library, both first-party and third-party and the Game Pass subscription. And we’ve got the vibrant multiplayer community already.
“So I think any company that wants to be successful in the streaming space, I believe they’re going to need significant investment, history, heritage and success across all three of those at the same time, and combine them in the right way. I like our position across those three.”
