Microsoft is working on a browser-based edition of its cloud gaming service Project xCloud, according to multiple reports. A generous interpretation might be that Apple’s hoping one of Google and Microsoft’s rivals will build a new cloud gaming service around that idea — they’d need the server and network infrastructure, which is which is why companies like Microsoft and Google are currently seen as front-runners in the space, but they’re not the only ones capable of fielding the tech. Well, it’s an awful lot of work with little benefit for Microsoft and Google, to start. It’s not yet clear that cloud gaming can even sustain an a la carte business model, where games are sold one by one. All the games included in the catalog app must link to an individual App Store product page. Valve’s Steam Link app took nearly a year for Apple to approve even though it primarily streams games from your home PC. Apple is effectively saying these companies cannot build a “Netflix of games” on the iPhone. While Microsoft has reportedly not given up hope that xCloud will be directly available on iOS at some point in its present form, and is continuing internal development on an app for the purpose, its plan for now is to use a web version of xCloud to circumvent the App Store entirely.
But if gamers can just choose a title or two they want instead of subsidizing the whole service, is it even feasible? It’s not hard to imagine a major ISP becoming a cloud gaming giant with Apple’s blessing, too. In case you don’t know, a “thin client” is what you call a local app that relies on the processing power of a remote server — exactly how Stadia, xCloud, and every other cloud gaming service operates today. If xCloud (and similar services such as Google Stadia) were available in the App Store, that would provide a natural competitor for Apple’s own subscription service, Apple Arcade. As iPhone sales have slowed, the company has decided to intensely focus on growing its services business, has seen phenomenal success, and it’s become increasingly clear that the App Store is a huge part of that. Apple has changed the rules. Here’s what Apple’s new rules about cloud gaming actually mean, Best Buy’s three-day sale on OLED TVs, headphones, and more ends Saturday, But there are plenty of other great deals, Woot is selling refurbished Pixelbook Go laptops that don’t have Google branding, This weird ‘debranded’ Pixelbook Go is kind of amazing, Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet with 128GB of storage is cheaper than ever at Best Buy, One of the best values out there if you’re looking for a Chromebook, Steam’s 2020 Halloween sale discounts Control Ultimate Edition, Doom Eternal, and more. The company announced a Project xCloud beta is launching on Apple’s mobile operating system beginning today. They have to squeeze the entire idea, one game at a time, into a App Store-shaped hole. Microsoft hasn’t revealed which Apple policies are preventing xCloud from launching on iOS, but Google’s Stadia game streaming service is also not available on iPhones or iPads. Apparently that philosophy wasn’t important enough to keep now there’s money on the table. But I still have to agree with the way Microsoft put it last Friday afternoon: “Gamers want to jump directly into a game from their curated catalog within one app just like they do with movies or songs, and not be forced to download over 100 apps to play individual games from the cloud.”.