![]() Conversely, Activision Blizzard has had almost no cloud gaming presence outside of one Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice port on Google Stadia before that service’s shutdown. However, Newell admits that gaming only makes up 8.5% of Microsoft’s revenue, and cloud gaming is an even smaller amount of that slice.ĭespite its relatively small impact on the wider company, most of the experts I spoke to agreed that Microsoft has emerged as a cloud gaming leader thanks to its compatibility with a large segment of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library. BrandFinance Managing Director Laurence Newell tells Digital Trends that “cloud-based services account for over 70% of Microsoft’s brand value, amounting to a staggering $137.5 billion.” That’s quite an eye-catching number that understandably would raise a regulator's alarm bells. Whether one thinks cloud gaming is relevant to this acquisition or not, this emergent style of gaming has reached a point of no return where it'll be instrumental to the video game industry going forward.Ĭloud gaming may sound like a niche within the industry, but that's not entirely accurate. While experts mostly side with Microsoft over the CMA on this decision, one greater truth emerged from these discussions. Following the CMA’s decision on Wednesday, I spoke to several different analysts to find more clarity about how big Microsoft is in the cloud gaming space and why the CMA should feel compelled to intervene. ![]() Still, cloud gaming is considered relatively niche, with Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick calling it "inconsequential" in an interview with Bloomberg and UCL Associate Profession Joost Rietveld saying it’s not a distinct market in a submission to the CMA.ĭespite those pleas, the CMA claims that cloud gaming is a “nascent market” and that “already strong incumbent in this market even stronger” in its 418-page report on the matter. Cloud gaming’s relevance to the video game industry has only grown over the past several years thanks to both failed and successful efforts from big tech companies like Google, Amazon, and, most importantly, Microsoft. The idea of being able to stream the game you’re playing from the cloud has existed for well over a decade. While a lot of focus on Microsoft’s fight was centered around whether or not the acquisition would give Xbox consoles an unfair advantage over PlayStation consoles, what ultimately decided it was a much smaller market: cloud gaming. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) delivered a shocker this week when it blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard on Wednesday. I ditched my consoles and went to cloud gaming for a week – here’s how it went The best upcoming Xbox Series X games: 2023 and beyond State of Decay 3: release date speculation, trailer, news, and more With Destiny 2‘s latest expansion, The Witch Queen, nowhere on Game Pass, the game will totally be removed from Microsoft’s subscription service following Bungie’s ongoing acquisition by Sony.Įvery summer 2023 gaming showcase: full schedule of live streams That’s a ton of content that players are going to lose access to, and they will have to purchase it if they want to keep their current characters in the massively popular FPS. However, the service’s biggest loss is coming on April 11, when three expansions for Destiny 2 - Beyond Light, Shadowkeep, and Forsaken - leave Xbox Game Pass for PC. Zero Escape: The Nonary Games, March 22 (cloud, console, PC)Īs for games leaving Game Pass, users will have until the end of the month to get their fill of Madden NFL 20, Narita Boy, and Shadow Warrior 2.Tainted Grail: Conquest, March 22 (console).The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, March 17 (cloud, console, PC).Shredders, March 17 (cloud, PC, Xbox Series consoles).Here’s everything else coming to Game Pass this month: The critically acclaimed medieval kingdom sim lets players build their own dynasty, all while playing politics in courts throughout Europe.Īlongside these two titles, Game Pass users will have six other new games hitting their various libraries. The only other notable addition in this month’s low-key lineup of games is Crusader Kings 3, which is coming to Game Pass on Xbox Series consoles on March 29.
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