Xbox pre-event briefing shows it building for life beyond the console
Christopher Dring
Head of Games B2B
Thursday 9th June 2022
Xbox's latest 'What's Next For Gaming' media briefing laid out its vision for the next 20 years of video games.
Alongside a series of small announcements around its services, the firm spent over 45 minutes reiterating the company's plan for the future of games. Notably, Xbox barely mentioned its current consoles -- the Xbox Series S and X -- and focused primarily on PC games, cloud streaming and Game Pass.
Xbox's announcements today included:
- The Xbox app is coming to Samsung Smart TVs from June 30, so that gamers can stream titles via their TV without the need for a console. More TVs will follow - Microsoft announced Project Moorcroft, a programme where developers can release demos of upcoming games for Game Pass members. Participating developers will be able to see how their demos perform and be paid for their efforts - The firm has rolled out Xbox Cloud Gaming to Argentina and New Zealand - It's updated Windows 11 and Microsoft Edge browsers with extra game options, including optimisation efforts, a new HDR calibration app, a Game Pass widget, and a controller bar that lets players get into their games without the need for a mouse or keyboard. - The ability for gamers to stream certain games that they've already purchased outside of their Game Pass library - The Xbox Design Lab offering (where gamers can craft their own controller designs) has expanded to 11 countries: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland add Taiwan.
In terms of PC games, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that PC Game Pass has grown 300% over the last year, but that's "well below" the company's goal. Spencer acknowledged
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