Microsoft applies for "Digital Direct" trademark

According to a Tweet from h0x0d on Twitter, Microsoft has applied for the trademark “Digital Direct”.

https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1145698364719112192

Onscope IPOwner says that the trademark is currently pending, was filed on the 6th of June 2019, and falls under NICE Class 41 – Education; entertainment.

It’s also a CIPO trademark, meaning it’s a Canadian Intellectual Property Office trademark, not a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office one.

IPOwner describes the Digital Direct trademark as the following:

(1) Entertainment services, namely providing game services for games played over computer networks and global communications networks; providing computer games and video games for on-line play over computer networks and global communications networks; providing entertainment information on the video game and computer game industries

Given that the description focuses very heavily on ‘games played over […] global communications networks’ and ‘games for on-line play’, it’s highly likely that this is some sort of trademark for Microsoft’s Project xCloud.

xCloud is the upcoming videogame streaming service from Microsoft that allows players to stream Xbox games to a variety of devices, including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, and certain televisions.

Project xCloud will be out this October. The service apparently already supports over 2,000 games, with potentially more to come.

What do you think? Do you think the trademarks are related to Project xCloud, or is it something else entirely? Let us know in the comments below.