Update: An Xbox spokesperson told Gamasutra that the company’s xCloud development currently revolves around serving its core console business, and there are currently “no plans” for cloud-exclusive content: “We’re very early in the multi-year journey for Project xCloud, which is currently in public preview.”
“We are investigating a variety of new capabilities made possible by the cloud. 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.”
Original story continues below:
Project xCloud’s CVP Kareem Choudhry says the company is “in early talks” with first- and third-party studios to create platform exclusives for its in-preview game streaming service Project xCloud, though any announcements or actual projects could be years down the line.
The comment was one of many given during an X019 interview shared by Stevivor, though Choudhry said that the branch’s current priority is ensuring developers are able to bring existing Xbox games to the streaming side of the fence as easily as possible.
“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,” said Choudhry. “New content and IP takes eighteen months to two years [to develop].”
That ease of bringing existing Xbox One games to Project xCloud’s catalog is a concept Microsoft has led with since the get-go. Elaborating on exactly how that will work for game makers, Choudry explains that API have already been added to the Xbox SDK with stream-focused functionality, allowing games to detect when they’re being streamed and make changes to UI or networking code to accommodate any differing needs.