Microsoft Project xCloud (Game Streaming), now offering Fortnite free without GPU membership

Are you using Cloud or Local console streaming?

 

Cloud. I've been away from home. Not sure I would ever use local streaming unless I was home. And when you have a Xbox connected to each of your TVs you might as play locally. Local streaming might be an option if I ever wanted to play outside? But not during the winter.

Tommy McClain

 

I wonder how they will balance the kb/m vs controller thing in competitive multiplayer games.

 

Competitive multiplayer with xcloud latency?

 

That's going to be a big test. Mouse movement is extremely sensitive to any latency in the input -> feedback chain, unlike controller which can hide latency quite well due to not having movements mapped 1:1 between the players control inputs and the on-screen feedback. So any latency when using a mouse can make things feel "rubbery" even if it "feels" perfectly fine with a controller.

NOTE - this isn't the same latency as one might have experienced back in the day with multiplayer gaming over modems (200+ ms latency). With that you'd still have 1:1 control mapping (local control -> feedback loop) it's just that other players would appear based on what type of network code was being used to display them on your screen with that high latency (IE - bad netcode would have quite obvious rubber banding enemies).

Keyboard movement on the other hand will hide latency similar to a controller as again, the movement feedback isn't mapped 1:1 to movement of the player's hand (mouse).

Regards,
SB

 

Agreed. Anyone whos spent time in any PC centric forums will know there are posts about mouse smoothing in games. At best it will feel like playing a game with mouse smoothing on, I think. So there is a percentage of the population that will always consider it unplayable.

 

Tom's tweet below that links to a year old article on why Fotenite isn't on xCloud. Epic did see it as a competitor on PC. Wonder what changed?

 

Do Microsoft require a cut of the purchases made within Fortnite when playing on XCloud?

 

Interesting question. Technically xCloud is just a window into the Xbox ecosystem so you would assume so but it's kind of blurring the lines a bit.

 

Oh yeah, it's still an Xbox behind it anyway, so I assume they're already getting a cut of those purchases just like a regular Xbox?

 

I would assume so. There was the leaked document from discovery in the Epic - Apple trial that indicated Microsoft had looked at reducing their cut on Xbox, but Microsoft later clarified that were no plan to do so. And this year, while dog-piling Apple for its 30% cut, Microsoft re-affirmed its' hypocritical position not change that policy for Xbox.

<insert epic facepalm emoji>.

I don't care that Microsoft (or Sony, or Nintendo, or Apple, or Google, or Steam) won't reduce their cut, it's obviously why they don't, but you can't uphold and defend this practice in your platform in the same fucking breath of criticising another platform holder for also doing that thing.

No idea of the number of people who might play this on xCloud, but it's hard to think of a better title to invite players to stress-test the platform!

I honestly still don't comprehend how people can play these games with touch. Kudos to then, but I absolutely suck at adapting to touch controls for most games.

 

I still have no idea how folks can play Fortnite even with a controller and still manage to slap down those insane building and evading skills.

 

Microsoft dropped the Live Gold requirement for F2P last year. That is a bit different because it doesn't really cost Microsoft (or Sony, or Nintendo) anything to let you use multiplayer as everything is peer-2-peer or run on others servers, but hosting xCloud for free would be a big step. Possibly - probably - such costs would be amortized into the running costs of Azure. Were it to explode in popularity, that might be different. Although.. "oh no.. we're too popular" is a nice problem to have!

I can't even follow how people do Minecraft in touch. Even a controller feels wrong.

 

I'm sure if MS were making a large profit on every console sold as Apple does with their iPhones and iPads, they might be more inclined to reduce their cut.

Regards,
SB

 

Are you trying to make me feel sorry for Microsoft, an international conglomerate making literally billions in revenue every year excuse one particular business unit is not bleeding consumers dry in every possible way? Because you lost me there.

If Microsoft want to charge more for console hardware and significantly less for software (upto 30% less) they can do that tomorrow. They can create a new business model based on pricier hardware and cheaper software, rather than the existing 1970s model as pioneered by Atari.

I don't see a problem. Only Microsoft is holding Microsoft back. I wish them well with that.