Microsoft wants to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to PC, here's proof

Microsoft has been gearing up to stream PC games over the cloud. This piece of vital information was revealed by internal emails from the FTC v. Microsoft case show.

The Redmond-based tech giant currently streams games through its Xbox Cloud Gaming service. However, it is limited to Xbox titles since the server runs specialised Xbox Series X chips.

Microsoft has been sparing no effort to take full advantage of its Azure servers for streaming PC games over Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Key details about Microsoft's plan revealed

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emailed the head of Xbox Creator Experience Sarah Bond, head of cloud gaming at Microsoft Kareem Choudhry, and Xbox chief Phil Spencer, in July 2021 after rumours of Google turning Stadia into a white-label cloud gaming service for developers to run their games on surfaced online.

The top executive said: "Seems like they will have a leg up because their stuff is more generic Linux VMs + Network.... But I am assuming we will do the same for Game Pass PC – right?"

Spencer quickly offered up his thoughts on Stadia, confirming that Microsoft is working on an Azure solution for streaming native PC games from the cloud.

"Google has the ability to reuse their Linux cloud hardware and yes as we stream PC native games from an Azure GPU SKU we would have more re-use scenarios to recoup costs", said Spencer, who was alluding to the ability to provide a similar white-label cloud gaming service to developers and publishers.

In the email chain, Choudhry went on to point out that "Phil is correct. Sarah [Bond] and I in partnership with Jason's [Zander] team are driving a suitable Azure SKU... as part of a series that will serve the customer demand we see externally for IAAS and to run our xCloud PC streaming stack".

What else do we know?

Although part of the Azure SKU is erased in the court document, it is safe to say Microsoft was working on streaming PC games over the cloud in July 2021.

Sources told senior editor for The Verge, Tom Warren that the work on Xbox Cloud Gaming has slowed over the past year inside Microsoft. Currently, the company is reportedly prepping to launch the Xbox Mastercard in collaboration with Barclays US Bank.

To recap, the company previously assured gamers that Xbox Cloud Gaming would support their existing game library by the end of 2022. Regrettably, that never happened. In fact, Microsoft has cancelled its plan to launch a dedicated subscription version of Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Earlier this year, British mobile network EE signed a 10-year deal with Microsoft to bring Xbox PC games to EE customers. However, EE doesn't currently offer a streaming service.

There is a possibility that EE is building out a service. In the meantime, Microsoft could be working on its Azure service to stream PC games. In addition to that, the company is leaving no stone unturned to get its services off the EU's tech gatekeeper list.