Microsoft details Xbox Game Pass cloud usage and the significance of touch controls

Surface Duo 2 Jez 2022 Source: Windows Central | Jez Corden

Xbox Cloud Gaming has had a bit of a decorated week. Earlier in the week, Microsoft appear new clarity algorithms to reduce pixelization on cloud streams beyond the web and on consoles. Then on Wednesday, Qualcomm and Razer revealed the dev kit of the Snapdragon G3x gaming platform, designed with handheld cloud gaming in mind. Now, Microsoft is revealing some new stats and information on why developers on its deject gaming bandwagon should seriously consider adding bear on controls.

Detailed on the Azure Game Stack weblog, Microsoft detailed how xx% of cloud players are using bear on exclusively to play titles on Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate, which is currently the but way to access Xbox deject games on mobile devices. Furthermore, players using touch are more than twice equally likely to play and engage with titles on the service. It'south plain to encounter why — games that support touch are merely easier to admission, given that you don't need to bear around an extra Xbox controller phone clip or a full mobile controller similar the Courage One or GameSir X2.

Microsoft went on to explain that games like Dragon'south Quest Eleven, Hades, Minecraft Dungeons, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Scarlet Nexus are a few titles that are seeing almost a 3rd of users exclusively engaging via touch on controls.

Hades On Xcloud Game Pass Mobile Source: Windows KeyThe Surface Duo phones take the ability to expand touch controls onto a separate display.

In the post, Microsoft stated how developers tin leverage its Azure tech to create cloud-aware games, using a fix of new and existing APIs that offer cloud experiences with minimal lawmaking changes. Microsoft recognizes that developing console titles is a massive investment, and has tried to make it as like shooting fish in a barrel as possible for an existing Xbox game to get a capable Xbox deject game. Microsoft too provided a sample project on Github to assistance developers get started.

Microsoft gave some examples of the constraints touch brings to Xbox games. Naturally, touch games are less tactile and offering fewer buttons to play with, unless yous desire to ataxia upward the screen with every single button on an Xbox controller. To circumvent these potential problems, games like Sea of Thieves take contextual activity buttons, replacing the standard ABXY layout with specific actions, complete with default iconography. Games similar Hades take it a step farther, with customized art for their touch controls.

A spokesperson from Playful Studios of Super Lucky'southward Tale fame described the process of including touch every bit "delightful," emphasizing that the process is easy, and tin remain truly intuitive. "Bringing New Super Lucky'due south Tale to xCloud touch on wasn't just piece of cake. It was delightful, involving little more running the game and discovering how fun and intuitive information technology is to play on a telephone."

Surface Duo Xbox Cloud Gaming Editorial Live Source: Zachary Boddy | Windows Central

The idea of a fully cloud-native game is the end goal, moving beyond touch controls to UI scaling for small screens and interactive elements. Minecraft Dungeons' menus are entirely touchable and don't need to be navigated gamepad-style using the affect controls at all. Football Manager's tactics screen also can exist manipulated via touch on, and can really play more than intuitively than information technology does with a regular gamepad every bit a issue.

Microsoft shared a range of resources for developers interested in leveraging touch to help them find new audiences via the cloud, although as of writing, cloud games are restricted to Xbox Game Pass titles and streaming from your home console — which isn't e'er the most ideal solution. Perhaps there's a hereafter where gamers will exist able to play any game they own via the cloud, but while we wait for that, Xbox Game Laissez passer already has dozens of great Xbox titles that are touch-enabled, with many more on the manner.

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