Phil Spencer on Stadia: Google Went Big Today, We Will Go Big at E3

Yesterday at the Game Developer Conference, Google pulled back the curtains on their game streaming service, Stadia. The service will be coming later this year and the company is making big promises about 4k, 60FPS, and latency-free gaming.

But Google is not the only player in this segment and while many were hoping that the service would become available this week, that’s not the case. Google says it will ship the service in 2019 but also entering public trials this year is Microsoft’s xCloud.

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Following the Google keynote, Phil Spencer sent out an email, that was shared with me by sources close to the company, to the gaming-org at Microsoft where he put the announcements in perspective. He said, “Their announcement is validation of the path we embarked on two years ago.” and that “Today we saw a big tech competitor enter the gaming market, and frame the necessary ingredients for success as Content, Community and Cloud.”

But, when you look at their announcement in detail, Phil stated, “There were no big surprises in their announcement although I was impressed by their leveraging of YouTube, the use of Google Assistant and the new WiFi controller”.

Google played its cards about how it envisions game streaming but Phil lays the foundation for significant announcements at the upcoming E3 conference: “Google went big today and we have a couple of months until E3 when we will go big.”

It’s clear that with Google entering the segment, there will be increased competition for everyone in the gaming space. This is a good thing for consumers but for Microsoft, it means that they must stay vigilant as they too, were once the new player and everyone wrote them off saying they could never compete. With Google showing off how it envisions the future, all eyes will turn to Microsoft at E3 to see how it plans to showcase xCloud.

You can read his email to below:

We just wrapped up watching the Google announcement of Stadia as team here at GDC. Their announcement is validation of the path we embarked on two years ago..

Today we saw a big tech competitor enter the gaming market, and frame the necessary ingredients for success as Content, Community and Cloud. There were no big surprises in their announcement although I was impressed by their leveraging of YouTube, the use of Google Assistant and the new WiFi controller.

But I want get back to us, there has been really good work to get us to the position where we are poised to compete for 2 billion gamers across the planet. Google went big today and we have a couple of months until E3 when we will go big.

We have to stay agile and continue to build with our customer at the center. We have the content, community, cloud team and strategy, and as I’ve been saying for a while, it’s all about execution. This is even more true today.

Energizing times.

Phil

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Conversation 21 comments

  • Ingiomar Martina

    20 March, 2019 - 7:40 am

    <p>He's basically saying they still got the upperhand </p>

    • ArvindV

      20 March, 2019 - 11:49 am

      <blockquote><a href="#413959"><em>In reply to Ingi0m4rx:</em></a></blockquote><p>he is basically saying google went big and we will also go big at e3.</p><p>if he has said we will go bigger at e3 then your comment would have made sense</p>

  • Ulfvar

    20 March, 2019 - 8:02 am

    <p>Since he is impressed with their use of google assistant, maybe they will do something similar with Cortana? One can dream although I highly doubt it. </p>

  • justme

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2019 - 8:59 am

    <p>Sorry, but I just dont see it. Lag is a pain, and will rear its ugly head regardless of the service anyone uses. High speed broadband just isnt ubiquitous enough.</p>

    • solomonrex

      20 March, 2019 - 9:55 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#413969">In reply to JustMe:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote>I didn't have any trouble with lag on my gaming PC, but I'd be more afraid of data caps. This product seems to fly in the face of the current US political system.</blockquote><p><br></p>

    • bookgrub

      20 March, 2019 - 11:26 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#413969">In reply to JustMe:</a></em></blockquote><p>That depends a lot on the game, doesn't it? Will you play Dota 2 with a service like this? Maybe, though not at the top level. Competitive Rainbox 6 Siege? No, but casual play? Possibly.</p><p><br></p><p>But lots of MMOs are already limited by the server architecture responsiveness, not the client performance, and might benefit from this sort of arrangement. RPGs? Pretty much anything turn based? Single player exploration games like Subnautica?</p><p><br></p><p>A service like xCloud or Stadia doesn't need to be able to satisfy 100% of the users 100% of the time to be viable or valuable, and if anyone wanting to enter this space waits for that time to launch then they'll already have lost.</p>

  • hassan_timite

    20 March, 2019 - 9:03 am

    <p>Well, i am not interested by cloud gaming. However with the economy of scale , by for example using the same GPU/Tech for their data center blades than for theconsole, it can mean some quite powerful console hardware. I sure hope that the next Xbox is more powerful than a Stadia instance.</p>

    • solomonrex

      20 March, 2019 - 9:54 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#413970">In reply to Hassan_Timite:</a></em></blockquote><p>Well, I have bad news if you like Microsoft. They're cloud gaming pioneers and advocates. I know it feels different, I didn't think about it much myself, but commenting about old games and the cloud,&nbsp;I realized that my Forza Horizon IV probably won't work in 10 years because of all the online features. MS is cool enough that they might patch out the cloud stuff in the future for their fans, but how many companies will go to that trouble? And MS is very keen on cloud computing behind the games – you can bet that the next Halo will have 'ShootAtars' like Forza has 'Driveatars', and I'd be shocked if the 1st person campaign doesn't resemble open world forza and online persistent Destiny more than old Halo. </p><p><br></p><p>I mean, yes, there will be battle royale mode, too, of course.</p>

      • hassan_timite

        21 March, 2019 - 7:14 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#413984">In reply to solomonrex:</a></em></blockquote><p>Well, i am not completely agaisnt cloud gaming for the next generation if it enables Microsoft to build way more powerful standalone consoles through economy of scale made on the GPU Tech. Because i guess that they will use the same tech in their datacenters. However if despites this economy of scale they are unable to offer more powerful/better hardware than Sony, then i will go for Sony without hesitation.</p><p>Now for the generations after next, i will go with the company which keep releasing standalone consoles as long as possible.</p><p>When cloud gaming will become the only viable option, i will certainly give up gaming !</p>

  • trevinom

    20 March, 2019 - 9:51 am

    <p>LOL!!</p><p>Mainframe gaming? Full circle</p>

    • hoomgar

      20 March, 2019 - 12:29 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#413982">In reply to trevinom:</a></em></blockquote><p>LOL!&nbsp; right?&nbsp; What is it they say about history?</p>

  • BeckoningEagle

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2019 - 10:06 am

    <p>Bring it!</p>

  • lvthunder

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2019 - 11:04 am

    <p>Who is Phil Spencer?</p>

  • nbplopes

    20 March, 2019 - 11:45 am

    <p>Immediate internal memo? It looks like they are a bit nervous.</p>

    • hoomgar

      20 March, 2019 - 12:30 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#414029">In reply to nbplopes:</a></em></blockquote><p>Yeah that is obvious just from the head line.&nbsp; They have nothing to worry about.</p>

  • graham best

    20 March, 2019 - 12:30 pm

    <p>I have a Windows 10 PC and a Xbox One X in the same room connected to each other with a wired gigabit Ethernet connection. I have tried the existing Xbox streaming option in Windows 10. I am not a professional gamer, but there is a noticeable lack of screen response when streaming compared to hooking up a long HDMI cable to the PC monitor. The Xbox controller is connected wirelessly to the Xbox One in both cases.</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft is suggesting that you will be able to steam games to less capable hardware, with a slower connection that isn't guaranteed. I'm not suggesting that this isn't possible, but it's a hard computer science problem. My concern is Microsoft's commitment to solving this problem in the consumer space, with other very strong competitors also entering this market. Microsoft's recent consumer track record doesn't give me much optimism. </p>

  • nicholas_kathrein

    Premium Member
    20 March, 2019 - 1:00 pm

    <p>From other sites Google has 3 or 4 big announcements / demos planned like the one they just did. Any game on PC can be put on this system so that means tons of big AAA games. I have a gaming pc and people are saying that real gamers wouldn't use this. SH**, I would. I don't have to spend $500 every 2 years for a video card and another $300 to $500 every 3 years for processor, memory, and motherboard upgrades. Hell ya! Sign me up. I have 130 Mb comcast connection with unlimited data. I'd gladly spentd $25 to $30 a month for a fat stack of games to play if it works like they say and if it does this is the end of the console and even gaming pc's for many. Hell Microsoft should even be worried about Windows as that is the main reason I run it. If I can play games on any OS I might start looking for something else.</p>

    • VasiS

      20 March, 2019 - 3:02 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#414055">In reply to Nicholas_Kathrein:</a></em></blockquote><p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Any game on PC can be put on this system so that means tons of big AAA games".</span></p><p><br></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">That is up to the publishers of the games. They'll surely test waters with some games and If they don't see the revenue model working out for them or the audience, then you'll see stadia die out slowly with fewer games and engagement.</span></p>

  • rehantoday

    20 March, 2019 - 7:26 pm

    <p>In other words, he said,,, 'get fireworks ready for E3, we are going big' !!</p>

  • jamiet

    21 March, 2019 - 8:48 pm

    <p>This is the future of gaming whether you like it or not. Sitting here at work right now, it would be amazing if I could power up a controller and play games on whatever device I want. It doesn't matter if the speeds are not yet ready for everybody. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Personally, my home internet is 50mbps with unlimited data. Not the best but certainly usable. </span>It matters that the big tech companies are building the foundation NOW instead of waiting until everybody has the right speeds and data caps. </p>

    • Greg Green

      22 March, 2019 - 8:09 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#414598">In reply to jamiet:</a></em></blockquote><p>Most gaming now is on mobile devices, with consoles a distant second and PCs a close third.</p><p><br></p><p>So streaming is very viable for most gamers.</p>

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