“Call of Duty” tourney… from the cloud. Gamers will soon be able to play Microsoft's hottest console games without the console. Later this month, video-game lovers in 27 countries can play hits like “Halo” and “Minecraft” through Microsoft’s new Xbox smart-TV app. Samsung's newest line of connected TVs will be the first to offer the app, with other TV makers to follow.
Sold out everywhere... Xbox sales are trailing rivals like Sony’s PS5 and Nintendo’s Switch, despite Microsoft’s growing share of the gaming-console pie. Last year Xbox sales jumped 92% from 2020, on the back of its new Series X model release. The problem: supply-chain snags have made it harder (and more expensive) to buy nearly any popular gaming console. Now Microsoft’s betting its extensive video-game library (cue: $70B Activision acquisition) will attract players with or without the hardware.
Ready, player one: In 2019 Google tried to enter the cloud-gaming market with its Stadia streaming service, but a lack of well-known content has made it a commercial flop and its multiplayer games a virtual desert.
Don’t count out cloud gaming just yet… Microsoft’s spending a record $69B for Activision because it knows the power of popular titles. If it can convince hardcore gamers that “Call of Duty” plays as well on the cloud as it does on a console, the Xbox’s days could be numbered. Not that Microsoft would necessarily mind: last year execs said that all Xboxes are sold at a loss.