Microsoft is developing new hardware to bring its ‘Netflix for games’ service to TVs

Microsoft is developing special streaming devices so that people will be able to plug them into their TVs to use its Netflix-like cloud gaming service. 

The Software company foresees video gaming to be a subscription-based model where people pay a certain amount of money each month to get access to a plethora of titles. 

The company’s Xbox Game Pass which gives gamers access to a library of games developed both in-house and by third-party studios offers this particular service. 

Though this pertains to digital downloads, ‘streaming’ was added last year with the software company officially launching Xbox Cloud Gaming. The feature is sort of like a “Netflix for games,” that allows gamers to play games that are hosted on remote servers and then streamed to users over the internet. Several companies have also launched similar streaming services for gamers. Few examples are Google which launched ‘Stadia‘ and Amazon ‘Luna‘. 

Microsoft now wants to push its cloud gaming product to other platforms. It started rolling out Xbox Cloud Gaming to some users via a web browser on iPhones, iPads and PCs in April. 

CNBC gave a report that the software company could not launch a proper mobile app for cloud gaming on Apple devices due to a dispute over App Store policies). The report added that on Thursday, the company announced it wants to expand the service to TVs as well.

“One way it plans to do that is by partnering with manufacturers to add cloud gaming to smart TVs. But Microsoft is also developing streaming devices which users can plug into their TV or computer monitor to stream games from the cloud. The company didn’t elaborate on what those devices could look like, though it’s reminiscent of Amazon’s Fire TV and Google’s Chromecast dongles, both of which now support cloud gaming,” the report added. 

In addition, Microsoft says it is working with mobile carriers like Telstra in Australia to offer new Xbox subscription models. It’s also expanding cloud gaming to four new countries — Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Japan —  later this year, and aims to publicly launch the browser-based version of the software to all members of its $15-a-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription in the coming weeks.

Microsoft said it plans to add cloud gaming to its new Xbox Series X console, which launched last November to compete with Sony’s PlayStation 5. In the next few weeks, the company will also upgrade the servers that power its cloud gaming service from its old Xbox One hardware to the Xbox Series X.

Microsoft competes aggressively with Sony when it comes to gaming. But it’s taking a different strategy to its Japanese counterpart. While Sony is known for blockbuster exclusives that can only be played on a PlayStation console, Microsoft is focusing on embedding its Xbox services onto multiple platforms, including mobile and PC.

Microsoft has been stepping up its investments in gaming, buying the iconic studio Bethesda for $7.5 billion in its biggest video game-related acquisition yet.

The company is holding a joint event with Bethesda on Sunday as part of the E3 gaming conference to show off new games, with fans speculating they will reveal some details about a hotly-anticipated sci-fi game called Starfield.