Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Readies Xbox Gaming Service

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is taking Xbox’s talents to the cloud. The tech giant has announced a new game streaming service that it hopes will open up its console to even more users.

Techcrunch has the scoop on Microsoft’s plans.

A week after Google launched a game streaming service “Project Stream“ in beta, Microsoft’s touting its own take on the category. Project xCloud is, naturally, an Xbox game streaming service, designed to bring the console’s titles to a slew of different platforms.

Outlined via blog post, the service is the latest offering to offer gamers the promise of cross-platform autonomy, bringing CPU-heavily titles to the PC and mobile devices. Public trials of the service will kick off next year. For now, the company is busily recruiting developers to bring content to the service and testing in private beta.

“Cloud game-streaming is a multi-faceted, complex challenge. Unlike other forms of digital entertainment, games are interactive experiences that dynamically change based on player input,” a statement from Microsoft read in part. “Delivering a high-quality experience across a variety of devices must account for different obstacles, such as low-latency video streamed remotely, and support a large, multi-user network.”

Microsoft Corporation shares rose $0.14 (+0.12%) in premarket trading Wednesday. Year-to-date, MSFT has gained 32.93%, versus a 9.11% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

MSFT currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #1 of 69 stocks in the Software – Application category.