Microsoft Reveals Developers Utilizing xCloud App To Test Titles On Dev Kits Remotely

It is no secret that the coming cloud-streaming initiative Project xCloud already holds a strong foundation in performance with its prominent console counterpart even ahead of its official commercial release. While Microsoft continues to develop the service into what will be the final product for the latter of 2020, the firm has continued to work its ways into making the platform more ambitious than what was framed during its conception.

 In that, we are aware of the studios that are involved with the approaching initiative as developer kits have been sent out for teams to dissect and understand when making its own properties playable. However, Microsoft has revealed recently that even a physical unit will not be necessary for developers when testing their games for Project xCloud.

It has been tradition for game studios to await for the respected developer kits to begin working on making their title suitable for the platform. But with Project xCloud already prominent with intangible gaming has now negated the requirement to use a physical system to test titles.

We’ve set out to solve these remote access challenges by re-allocating our Project xCloud resources; going beyond mobile and creating a PC app experience for developers that runs a low-latency 60fps gaming experience that allows for continued game development. By giving developers access to our PC Content Test App (PC CTA) they can remotely connect to their Xbox Development Kits from their PC, allowing them to test, play and iterate as if they were in the office. It also prevents them from having to download daily builds to local hardware in the home, which can often take hours.    

Allan Poore, Project xCloud Partner Group Program Manager

Although there are already dozens of teams that have physical developer kits for Project xCloud, Microsoft discloses that some first-party & third-party studios have already began using the contact-free alternative. The teams included are Eidos-Montreal, Infinity Ward, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Rare, Turn 10 Games, and Undead Labs.

“xCloud will give the opportunity to dev teams and also internal and external QA teams to put their hands on our latest game builds from everywhere minutes after their release,” Eidos-Montreal Infrastructure Director Guillaume Le-Malet shared on the team’s interaction with the PC app. “By allowing the teams to connect remotely to their devkits and take advantage of the high bandwidth LAN network from our various office locations, xCloud will also add another layer of security as the content created will stay on our corporate network.”

In other Project xCloud news, Microsoft announced that it has collaborated with 8Bitdo to develop a Project xCloud-aimed controller. The gamepad is Bluetooth with USB-C support slated to arrive later in September. You can read the full report by heading here.

What do you think about Microsoft’s approach with its cloud-based technology?

Source: Microsoft