Microsoft’s Xbox Streaming Console ‘Keystone’ Was Pushed Again Due to Its Worth

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has revealed why the corporate delayed its plans to introduce an Xbox streaming console, talking to Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel on The Verge’s Decoder podcast this week. The Verge stories: “It was costlier than we wished it to be after we truly constructed it out with the {hardware} that we had inside,” mentioned Spencer, discussing the Keystone prototype machine that not too long ago appeared on his workplace cabinets. “We determined to focus that group’s effort on delivering the good TV streaming app.” Microsoft delivered an Xbox TV app in partnership with Samsung as a substitute, but it surely does not imply the thought for a streaming-only Xbox console is totally over. “With Keystone, we’re nonetheless targeted on it and watching after we can get the best price,” reveals Spencer.

Microsoft wished to purpose for round $129 or $99 for this Xbox streaming machine, says Spencer, and hints that bundling a controller with the streaming console, in addition to Microsoft’s silicon element selections, had pushed the worth up nearer to the $299 Xbox Sequence S. The selection to bundle a controller matches what Microsoft historically does with its Xbox consoles and was additionally Google’s authentic strategy to placing its discontinued Stadia cloud gaming service on TVs. However a cloud gaming TV stick or puck may help any controller you’ve if the {hardware} helps Bluetooth, so it is attention-grabbing Microsoft particularly wished to bundle an Xbox controller, prone to make the consumer expertise really feel extra seamless.