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Now it will be possible to play with all XBOX titles on all platforms. After revealing the existence of a platform for streaming video games last E3 2018, Microsoft has finally removed the veils from the service that will characterize the Xbox brand for years to come: it is Project xCloud, a service of gaming on demand that is based on the cloud infrastructure of Azure (another proprietary technology of the Redmond company) to offer the catalog of Xbox One games on any device, whether it's smartphones, tablets or low-performance PCs.
The service, which will start in a closed-circuit test in early 2019, will thus allow to play productions of the caliber of Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War 4, Sea of Thieves or the more recent Forza Horizon 4 also from mobile devices, as you can see in the official presentation video.
Microsoft has already prepared a series of racks containing the hardware equivalent to multiple units of Xbox One X within a server farm of Azure, which will handle the traffic of Project xCloud in the first months of testing the service. Once the service has been tested, the infrastructure will be extended by Microsoft to all the other nerve centers of Azure around the world, in order to offer total coverage and make the service accessible even with connections for mobile networks.
Currently, in fact, Project xCloud requires a download bandwidth of 10 megabits per second, significantly lower than what Google requested with its new Project Stream service (25 megabits per second in download): Microsoft's objective is to further reduce the requirements so as to make perfect the execution of Xbox videogames even with 4G connections, while support for the future 5G infrastructure is already confirmed. Taking advantage of the peculiarities of Azure, the American giant will try to transform Project xCloud into a scalable service and as such useable by making the most of the resources of the device in use, a bit like it happens currently for platforms like Netflix.
The platform will allow to connect the official Xbox One controller via Bluetooth, while Microsoft is already working to adapt the control systems of the main games to the use via touchscreen, so as to facilitate accessibility even for those less accustomed to the world of video games.
Project xCloud will be launched in the United States in early 2019, with a private test that will be progressively extended to an increasing number of users.
