Eager to bring its games to even more people, Microsoft announced today that it has partnered with the company Boosteroid to offer something that the company does not officially support today, namely the streaming of PC-specific Xbox games.
The announcement of the agreement tinged with policy towards Ukraine and the antitrust authorities
This may seem fairly innocuous, but the timing is undoubtedly well chosen to announce such a partnership, while various antitrust authorities continue to examine the file of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft does not fail to recall its ambition through the press release.
Thanks to a new 10-year agreement to support Boosteroid’s Ukrainian software development team, Microsoft will bring Xbox PC games, as well as Activision Blizzard titles, including ‘Call of Duty’, to the largest independent vendor of cloud gaming in the world.
Boosteroid is the largest independent Cloud Gaming provider in the world with four million users worldwide. Based in kyiv and Kharkiv, the company has been the target of Russian missile attacks, which Microsoft points out in a communiqué whose content seems almost more political than really related to business.
Ivan Shvaichenko, CEO of Boosteroid CEO, says he appreciates “Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine” and adds that this partnership will also allow “to invest more in the economic recovery of the country”.
Microsoft says the deal will also allow Boosteroid customers to access Activision Blizzard PC titles after the Activision Blizzard acquisition is finalized, should it take place in the coming weeks. MMicrosoft once again recalls its ambition, namely that “Call of Duty” exceeds 150 million additional players, and that games created by Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard can be played on multiple cloud gaming services and subscriptions .
Xbox PC games finally officially available for streaming
Since Microsoft is already one of the cloud leaders in the world, one wonders why the American company does not develop PC cloud gaming from its own infrastructures, as is the case with Xbox cloud gaming.
While a few hundred games developed on Xbox console can be played remotely via the cloud, unfortunately this is not the case for Xbox games available on PC, not even via the PC Game Pass application of the Xbox application on PC. . For example, Age of Empires IV is not available in the Cloud, even though Microsoft would have the necessary infrastructure to do so. It is all the more strange that Microsoft authorizes to stream its games to its main competitors, let us quote for example GeForce Now.
Anyway, this announcement shows that Microsoft is ready to support this function in the future, which is good news for those who do not have a PC capable of running the games in question. Phil Spencer, gaming boss at Microsoft, once again recalls his aspirations.
“We believe in the power of games to bring people together. That’s why Xbox is committed to giving everyone more ways to play their favorite games, regardless of device. Bringing Xbox PC games to Boosteroid members, including Activision Blizzard titles such as ‘Call of Duty’ once the deal is done, is a further step in realizing that vision. »
Today’s announcement marks the third deal Microsoft is unlocking to bring Call of Duty games to more people. Indeed, Xbox has signed with Nintendo and Nvidia, and it’s certainly not over yet.
