Selvom Xbox har tabt terræn til konkurrenterne på konsolmarkedet i længere tid, er der ét område, hvor de ligger milevidt foran: streaming og muligheden for at gøre købte spil tilgængelige på et væld af platforme uden ekstra omkostninger for forbrugeren - uanset om man spiller på PC, Xbox, mobil, cloud og så videre.
Initiativet Xbox Play Anywhere har været intet andet end en gevinst for spillerne, og i et interview om netop dette - samt hvordan cloud- og streamingteknologi (og endda håndholdte enheder som ROG Xbox Ally) gør det lettere både for spillere og mindre udviklere - fortæller GM of Portfolio and Programmes hos Xbox, Chris Charla, følgende:
"Yeah, I mean, the reality is when we talk to indie developers, they're also almost all indie gamers, right? Like everybody plays games. And I think that the notion that, hey, playing on console is fantastic, sitting on my couch and playing is the best. But playing when I'm at the airport is also the best. Playing when I'm on the bus is great. Playing when I'm sitting at work at my laptop (don't tell my boss) is also great. And so people get the promise really immediately. Like, oh yeah, of course, this is fantastic. And so when we talk to them about the extra work that's required to make a game Xbox Play Anywhere, where you can buy it on your Xbox console, play it on your Xbox PC, stream it to your Fire Stick or your LG TV or whatever, they totally get it. And support has been really strong. And yeah, it's been really cool."
Han sammenligner derefter situationen med musikverdenen og hvordan vi ubesværet kan skifte mellem at lytte til vinyl derhjemme og digital streaming, når vi er på farten.
"Yeah, it's a comparison I made this morning where I love vinyl and I listen to a lot of vinyl records when I'm at home. But when I go out, I stream them. And the experience is not precisely the same. And we can argue about, oh, vinyl's so warm, stream is so precise. But the reality is those are discussions for enthusiasts. I just love music. I just want to listen to music. And I think the same is with games. If I'm home and I can play a game locally, that's what I'm going to do. But if I'm at an airport and I'm streaming, that's fine too. And luckily now with the Xbox Ally, I don't always have to make that decision because now I've got the Ally in my backpack. I can play locally or stream in the airport and really anywhere I go. And in fact, I have to admit, I'm now one of these people who lies on my couch with my television off right over here on my back playing my Ally two inches from my face. It feels really nice. It holds really good. But maybe I'm too lazy to reach for the remote control now."
Du kan se hele interviewet med Charla herunder, hvor han også kommer ind på, hvordan udviklernes begejstring for Game Pass aldrig er faldet.