During the E3 gaming expo that took place last month, Microsoft revealed that it is building a new cloud gaming system. A recent Thurrott report reveals the system’s name to be ‘Scarlett Cloud’. Scarlett Cloud will only be part of Microsoft’s ‘next-gen’ Xbox strategy.
Thurrott notes that the next Xbox will come in two different styles. One will be a traditional gaming console with locally processed games, as the current systems run. The other will be a lower-powered system for streaming games from the cloud, which Thurrott predicts will be from the Microsoft Azure cloud.
The new streaming system will still have a bit of processing power, which will counter delays that are usually associated with streaming games. One part of the game is to run locally while the rest of it is streamed to the Xbox system.
The streaming Xbox version could be available at a lower price point than the traditional Xbox. In the past, Xbox sold systems with a small profit margin since the sales of games and other related online services served as a larger revenue stream.
Other companies have also tried running systems with fully streamed video games; Onlive was one of the first companies to do so. Sony has a large selection including: PS2, PS3, PS4, and PlayStation Now. Nvidia has also gotten into the game streaming this year with a small selection of games that stream through GeForce Now. These are all side projects for the wide range of companies; and regardless of the variety offered, consumers are still excited about the new Xbox systems.
Scarlett games will be able to run on all Scarlett devices. The cloud version is further along in its development than the traditional Xbox console that is set to be released in the year 2020. Stay tuned and keep your eyes open for development updates in the months to come.
