IMO offering streaming services will be a nice addition/option for some gamers next gen but that's about all. I just don't think we are ready for a full streaming future and for Microsoft to bet the farm on it seems like a bad move. Sony's more legacy approach seems more inline with what the market can support for the foreseeable future. Being late to the game is bad but so is being to too early.

It's been talked to death but internet infrastructure isn't where it needs to be in most of the world and we have crazy data cap problems in areas it is. Streaming services will have significantly impacted market penetration until this is solved, period!

Aside from the technical/infrastructure problems, x-box doesn't have the brand power, software strength, and market reach to attract enough customers to make streaming financially viable for their partners. The whole thing requires a massive increase in subscribers over the typical console install base or the financial model of streaming doesn't support the needed dollars and cents third party content providers will need to release anything but old games (unless they are making manipulative Gaas microtransaction lootbox BS).

The scale needed to support content creators with a streaming service model is crazy. Microsoft making their service available on all hardware is a start but that does not guarantee customers will bite just because it's available. You hear crazy numbers of billions for the total world wide gamers or Windows users but how many really want this type of game/service? Core console type gamers are very different than people who just want to play Candycrush or solitare or whatever for free. The market they are going after might not even be there, or may already be satisfied by the free to play bite size content they've been playing for years

I just don't see how this ends up working for them.

The fact that Microsoft are pushing streaming so much I feel they will leave the hardware market its almost over for them. There games are now on pc so no real incentive to rush out and buy which is a shame. I just hope Sony doesn't go that way also going into a streaming service.

MS is gona dominate in the future cuz more money better tech........Where have I heard that before. Could definitely not be the beginning of the gen with the list wars.....ps4 was cheaper and MS will price-cut cuz they can eat the loss as they have all the money? no, cnt be...let me think, I know its not the cloud power shortly after the gen started......Why is this so hard to remember, maybe somebody could help me out.....I know its probably when phil was in charge and he was gona change everything cuz hes a gamer and wears t-shirts, no that cant be it.......Probably all the studio acquisitions, its the last thing they have done that has not failed yet. Yes thats probably the only time I heard something similar.

Not sure what Microsoft is up to yet, but they are definitely up to something.  They've got too much going on lately: GamePass, xCloud, a new console coming, buying several new game studios, rumors about Switch collaboration, etc....  If there are media outlets talking about GamePass, then you can bet that is all part of Microsoft's plan to get people excited for what's coming.  Microsoft is going to have some sort of big reveal or reveals this year, and most likely at E3.  Hard to say if all of these pieces go to one big project yet or if they have several projects though.

Innovating on the streaming and/or download side is definitely in their wheelhouse too.  They are the largest software company in the world, so this is definitely in their wheelhouse.  I mean, they had the first viable internet gaming service, so it wouldn't surprise me if they are going all in to further develop a streaming and/or download service for games.

Sony may have been first to have PSNow, but Sony always plays things conservatively on the home console side.  This is the smart strategy, because they can usually just copy what their competitors do if one of them comes up with a good idea.  They might lose in the short term, but they are always willing to adapt in the long term.  So they gradually improve PSNow, and that is the smart way to go.  I can definitely see Microsoft trying to put all of their eggs in the download and/or streaming basket though.  What they are doing right now isn't really working for them, so they are going to try to mix it up if they can.

Most likely we'll have to wait until E3 to see what Microsoft is really planning.  Maybe we'll get a big reveal before then, but I think most likely it will be E3.

Could you link that PS now 1 million subscribers figure,

Trusted insiders are saying Microsoft has a couple of huge GamePass announcements for E3. Between that, the rumored reveal of the next iteration of hardware, and surely some games from all of these studios they bought, it should be a pretty fun E3.

Is a calculation, 143M income through PSNow, 12 month subscription 99.99$, 1 month 19.99$, 3 months 49.99$. Most are probably yearly subscriptions considering how much cheaper that gets compared to 12 1-month ones, but there are certainly some who only take a month sometimes and then let it slip again, renew, rinse, repeat.

So 143M divided by 99.99 gives a rough 1.43M maximum, but since the shorter subscriptions are so much more expensive, I reduced it by a fair bit to a 1-1.2M range

Thank you.  This confirms my suspicions.

It’s just one of those narratives people just run away with without examining if it has any basis in reality. Much like Nintendo’s seal of quality for instance.

I actually can't wait to see what games they add in March