Cloud Gaming Has Grown Significantly in Recent Years, Phil Spencer Celebrates Its Success
You probably remember that the idea of playing games in the cloud was not very well received by gamers at first. However, it seems that those who believed in it were right, at least according to what Phil Spencer said in an interview. He mentioned that the number of people playing via cloud gaming has grown a lot over the past few years.
Xbox Leads the Way
Microsoft and Xbox are leading in this field, with Xbox Cloud Gaming being on the market for a few years now, and it’s becoming more and more powerful. It seems that it is also being used a lot.
In an interview with iJustine (thanks WindowsCentral), the head of Microsoft’s gaming division clearly explained, “We always go where we see people playing. It has been amazing to see how many people now play Xbox through the cloud. We’re talking literally about tens of millions of hours every single month, and it’s growing rapidly.”
Recently, Microsoft shared a session from the GDC (Game Developers Conference) focused on Xbox Cloud Gaming. It included a detailed analysis of how users interact with the platform. Surprisingly, but not too surprisingly, the biggest users are Xbox One owners, who can now play games with Xbox Series X graphics, even those not specifically made for the older console. Right after that, smart TVs are the most used. On the other hand, smartphone usage is lower, probably due to the small screen sizes and, especially, the touch controls.
Xbox Cloud Gaming Usage Distribution, December 2024:
- Xbox One: 21.9%
- Smart TV: 21.1%
- Windows PC: 20.8%
- Xbox Series: 19.4%
- Mobile: 6.7%
- Other Desktops: 5.3%
- Other Devices: 4.7%
Microsoft’s talk at the GDC was aimed at showing developers how to adapt to the needs of cloud gaming, with “cloud-aware” interfaces that adjust to smaller screens. It’s worth mentioning that creating adaptable interfaces often requires a lot of work, leading to extra resources spent.
For Spencer, however, it’s an exciting challenge: “It’s really about building the experience around the person,” he said. “This is what excites me the most, without having a single device at the center. It’s not one game. It is the player at the center, making sure all of your games are available, all of your save games all of your entitlements are available wherever you go.”
