Microsoft's XCloud can't save cloud gaming

To talk about the most popular game concept in recent years, cloud games are definitely the most frequently mentioned by players. With the continuous increase of smartphone users, more and more manufacturers have joined the ranks of cloud games, including Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, Google, Tencent, NetEase and other manufacturers have launched their own cloud game products, which seems to indicate the cloud Games will become one of the trends in future game development.

On the morning of June 29, Microsoft officially announced that Microsoft's cloud gaming service xCloud was officially launched for Apple and PC users. With immediate effect, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in 22 countries/regions around the world will be able to play hundreds of games in the Xbox Game Pass service through iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC. This is exactly what mobile phones, tablets and low-end computers are. Good news for users.

Of course, the reason why cloud gaming services are so controversial is inseparable from their own shortcomings. According to Microsoft, they have made significant improvements to the overall experience of cloud gaming, hoping to achieve the lowest input delay and the highest quality experience in a large number of cloud devices. So does cloud gaming really have a chance to become an entertainment method accepted by the public this time? We might as well experience it.

How to play xCloud?

Prior to this, due to Apple’s App Store policy, cloud gaming services such as Google’s Stadia, Microsoft’s xCloud, Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Sony’s PS Now were basically out of the iOS system. Until today, affected by Apple's App Store policy, the iOS version of XGP applications still cannot open cloud games like Android. Because of this, how to play the xCloud service has become the first reaction of many gamers after hearing this news.

In the end, Microsoft took a different approach. Since there is no way to launch cloud gaming applications, it is better to abandon cloud gaming applications. Now, iOS devices can access the xCloud web version service through the Safari browser, and you can choose touch or handle operation. PC users can use the Edge or Chrome browser to play the web version of the service, which supports the use of handles.

However, even if the xCloud service can be started normally, for players, if they want to play the game smoothly, there are three points to note. First of all, although there are currently more than 50 games on the iOS version that support touch operations, most games still do not support touch operations. In other words, whether you are an iOS user or a PC user, if you want to achieve a complete xCloud experience, you must bring your own gamepad.

Secondly, xCloud is a cloud game service for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members, and naturally, you need to turn on members to experience it. XGP service is currently being promoted. As long as 1 USD/10 HKD, you can get three months of membership service, which is a good opportunity to experience rental game service.

Finally, according to Microsoft's official introduction, the current xCloud service has spread to 22 countries and regions around the world, but due to various reasons, the service scope does not include domestic. In other words, you need to switch to the US to experience the xCloud service. Once the game library page is loaded, even if you switch back to the domestic network, you can still stream normally, which is more conscientious.

How is the xCloud experience?

Before we start, we still need to introduce the network environment and test equipment as usual. Our company uses 500MB telecom broadband, the main router is TP-LINK 2600M 5G tri-band wireless enterprise-class router, and the overall network speed is quite good. The device participating in this test is GPD WIN 2, which is a Windows mini handheld with a core display. It can be described as an ideal audience for xCloud services because of its low performance.

Open the Edge browser, type in the Xbox Cloud Gaming official website, log in to the Microsoft account, and a huge game library will instantly appear in front of the players. When the xCloud service was tested for the first time, Microsoft only offered four games, "Gears of War 5," "Halo 5," "Sea of ​​Thieves," and "Killer Instinct" for user experience. The poor game library was obviously insufficient for users.

Today, Microsoft is clearly aware of this problem. According to Xiao Lei's statistics, Microsoft has expanded the Xcloud content library to 267, which not only includes the XGP PC game lineup but also includes the old Xbox and Xbox 360 game lineups, which were previously unplayable on PCs. . Despite the lack of EA game lineup, we can still say that the current xCloud game library is basically the same as the XGP game library.

In terms of games, Xiao Lei chose to experience the recently launched "Dungeon and Dragon: Dark Alliance". First of all, we can feel the loading speed of the xCloud game, basically, it can be loaded into the game interface within 15s. The game interface of Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is exactly the same as the original game, but there is no screen option in the game settings, after all, it is a console version of the game.

Entering the game, we can intuitively feel the disadvantages of cloud games in terms of image quality. Due to the limitations of network latency, most xCloud games currently do not have image quality options. Only some games upgraded to Xbox Series X hardware can support 1080P/60 frames, and we are currently running "Dungeon and Dragon: Dark Alliance". The game probably only has 720P-900P/30 frame picture effects.

If you stand still and only look at the game screen, there will be basically no jams when the characters move and the flags are flying in the background of the game. As long as the player moves, there will still be a certain sense of lag in the operation, and there will also be a problem of screen tearing when moving the viewing angle. Although it is difficult to make a decent combo under the operation delay, there is no problem with the fluency of the game itself, and it is indeed playable.

Then, Xiao Lei replaced the mobile phone's 5G network hotspot and used "Live Football 2021" for testing. After the network speed increased, the game's operating delay did improve, and players could at least play decent offensive coordination on the training ground. However, the image quality of the xCloud version of this game has deteriorated too severely, and the players are basically confused with the ground, which is difficult to satisfy.

Finally, like all other existing cloud gaming services, xCloud itself has very high requirements for network speed. Although Xiaolei's test environment is ideal enough, as long as there are network fluctuations, the game picture quality will be blurred and stuck. For ordinary users, how to meet the network needs of cloud games is indeed a big problem.

Conclusion

After experiencing it, Xiao Lei feels that the current xCloud service’s demand for players is still too high, but the game experience that can be given to players is too little. This service is actually not as capable of satisfying the “old console” and “low-end” as Microsoft said The game needs with a computer.

For low-end computers, the gaming experience brought by the xCloud service may not even be as smooth and clear as running the game with the score display. Even on GPD WIN 2, the effect of running live football may be much better than the xCloud service. For the old console, Xbox One itself can run all the game content in the xCloud game library. Even without parameter settings such as ray tracing/120 frames, the local game experience is still much better than cloud games.

Of course, xCloud is not useless. No matter at home or abroad, there are always few users who are willing to spend money on playing games to buy devices, but there are many users holding Android/Apple smart devices. What cloud gaming has to do is to allow people to play top 3A masterpieces with mobile phones of RMB 2,000. This will not only help the popularization of 3A games but also promote the further development of the game market.

In addition, the point-to-play nature of xCloud also saves a lot of trial and error time for ordinary players. The biggest feature of Microsoft Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the rental game library of different types, large numbers, and uneven. In the past, players needed to download and experience the game before they knew whether a game was satisfactory. Now, you only need to start the xCloud experience, confirm that the game matches your taste and download it. This is really convenient.

As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. I personally believe that Microsoft’s xCloud model should be the closest to a successful cloud gaming model in the industry.

First of all, compared to Google Stadia, a cloud gaming platform that requires players to pay monthly fees and pay to purchase game content, Microsoft xCloud itself is a benefit provided to XGPU members and has huge advantages in terms of price and game library. Secondly, Google Stadia, a pure cloud gaming platform, has too few interested users, and XGPU is basically a necessary membership service for every Xbox player, almost overwhelming similar opponents in the number of users.

However, even Microsoft did not perform well in terms of "network latency", the most critical issue for cloud gaming services. From the current point of view, even if the user's home network speed is sufficient, occasional network fluctuations will cause continuous picture freezes and low bit rate pictures, which will seriously affect the experience of cloud gaming. Only when the 5G network is sufficiently popular can there be a chance to solve this problem.