Microsoft has fired the next salvo in the next great console battle.

The company officially unveiled their new game streaming platform – Project xCloud, via a post on the company’s blog Monday Morning.

Project xCloud will provide high-end, console quality experiences to players on any device through cloud streaming, regardless of whether that device is a cutting edge pc, or a simple cell phone.

“Today, the games you play are very much dictated by the device you are using. Project xCloud’s state-of-the-art global game-streaming technology will offer you the freedom to play on the device you want without being locked to a particular device, empowering YOU, the gamers, to be at the center of your gaming experience.”

To ensure the most seamless streaming experience possible, Microsoft has built custom hardware within their multiple data centers within the company’s “Azure regions”. Limited testing of Project xCloud has already begun, however, a wider public test will take place beginning in 2019.

Microsoft’s Project xCloud announcement follows on the heels of Google’s announcement of their own game streaming platform: Project Stream, which began its public test this week.

Thanks to our sources, NerdBacon was one of the first outlets to discuss Microsoft’s plans on transforming the Xbox brand from something exclusively associated with hardware, to a service-based identity.

In our May 25th piece titled: The E3 2018 Game Plan – Microsoft, we wrote:

“In an effort to play defense against the arrival of Apple, and/or Amazon to the home gaming market, Microsoft is preparing to transform the Xbox brand into a service that could be used on any device, not just a machine.

You’ll still be able to play Xbox games on elegant, Microsoft-designed Xbox hardware, but you won’t have to.”

During Microsoft’s keynote address at E3 2018, Xbox Chief, Phil Spencer confirmed that the company was planning on building a streaming platform that would allow consumers to enjoy a AAA console experience on any device.

The emergence of both Project xCloud and Project Stream marks a huge shift, not only in how the gaming industry will deliver content in the future, but in who the players will be as this new streaming future unfolds.

Ubisoft head Yves Guillemot has gone on record in his belief that the coming console generation will be the last.

“There will be one more console generation and then after that, we will be streaming, all of us.”

Ubisoft is confident enough in this vision of a streaming future, that they have lent the latest entry in their hit Assassin’s Creed series, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, to Google in order to test their Project Stream technology.

Google’s entry into the gaming represents the first of the three “titans” – Google, Apple, and Amazon to make their presence felt within the the industry. As we have stated on numerous occasions, all three players will be making moves to grab a piece of the gaming pie, and was the reason why E3 2018 was less exciting of a show than in years past.

Microsoft’s announcement of Project xCloud on Monday, is likely a counter to the start of Google’s test of Project Stream, which happened to begin on the same day.

Project xCloud will also feature heavily into the plans for Microsoft’s next generation of consoles, which are currently under development. Reports from Thurott.com’s Brad Sams have indicated that the next Xbox system, currently known as “Scarlett”, will consist of multiple sku’s and will include one unit dedicated solely to streaming content, which will sell for an extremely competitive price.

There is a good chance that we will learn more about Project xCloud, as well as the future of Xbox, when Microsoft hosts their big X018 fan festival in Mexico City, November 10-11.

NerdBacon will be streaming live coverage and reactions to all of the announcements from X018 on our Twitch, Youtube, and Mixer channels.