With the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft looming on the horizon, it appears that Microsoft has made large strides to prepare for expanding their future services.

It seems that the Xbox division is taking a cue from the overall strategy that Microsoft is taking toward its other software services. Rather than buying a boxed software product and getting regular updates, Microsoft has been releasing everything as a subscription service. Xbox started their own solution a while ago.

Xbox Game Pass started May 24, 2017 for Xbox Live members and June 1, 2017 for everyone else. Game Pass gives subscribers access to over 100 Xbox One and Xbox 360 games for $9.99 a month, with titles cycling in and out on a regular basis.

During a quarterly earnings call in October of 2018, Satya Nadella (Microsoft’s CEO) alluded toward Game Pass coming to PC, which would bring Windows 10 customers into the Game Pass ecosystem. It will be interesting to see how Xbox is able to incorporate third-party Xbox 360 and Xbox One games on the PC.

At 2019’s Game Developer Conference, Microsoft is going to present a panel about how easy it is to incorporate Xbox Live on Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch. This should make it easy to access your Xbox friends list and achievements on different platforms and will get even more people embedded in Microsoft’s online gaming ecosystem.

In order for all these users to be tied together on one platform (monetized by Microsoft), it must be available on something other than an Xbox console or a PC. Enter Project xCloud. Project xCloud is a streaming service that is designed to work across consoles, PCs, and mobile devices, and Microsoft has been testing it internally (using Xbox One controllers on these devices).

This means that Microsoft has a direct way of letting their customers engage with the games available through Game Pass on anything that is connected to the internet and has Bluetooth and a screen. Imagine just installing the Xbox app to your smart TV, Roku, and/or phone. This would expand the Game Pass customer base and have Xbox in every home.

As far as consoles are concerned, I don’t think the next generation will launch with a game changer. Xbox took a lot of negative press trying to force an always-connected system and digital content on their customers. I think when we see the new consoles announced, it will look very much like what we see today, but we will see something new show up around the time we see the first revisions to those consoles. My guess is it will be something built just for streaming Game Pass.

Waiting until the “slim” model comes out lets them have more time to test out the streaming service on the next-gen Xbox and other devices. It also lets them have a chance to deepen relationships with Nintendo and maybe get their service on that platform. Microsoft is planning to start public testing this year, but they have competition from other internet leaders.

Last year, Google tested a similar streaming service called Project Stream. Testers were allowed to play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey through the Chrome browser, and people came away impressed. Likewise, Sony has their own streaming service on PS4 called PlayStation Now that allows you to stream from a library of older titles. Even Nvidia has one called GeForce Now. These all perform similarly, but the biggest issue is the install base. If Microsoft’s plan to expand onto other platforms works, then they would have the largest base (next to Google).

I’m excited to see what is announced in regards to the next big console releases. If Microsoft is able to get onto other platforms, they could really disrupt the gaming industry as we know it.