Microsoft may launch a game streaming service within the next three years

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has revealed that the company aims to launch a streaming service within the next three years. While a focus of Spencer’s interview with Bloomberg today was that Xbox was going to increase its investment in first-party games, he also said that the company is likely to debut a streaming service that allows specific content to even be streamed without a console (via Polygon).

A similar idea was brought to the table in 2012 however after a trial of the service within the company, Microsoft decided it was too costly to pursue at that time. Spencer believes that Microsoft’s progress with its Azure cloud services are changing the economics surrounding the idea.

This would certainly compete against Sony’s PlayStation Now service, which already lets players on that platform stream games available through the program. Microsoft currently offers Xbox Game Pass, but those games are downloaded directly to your system.

These types of services can struggle with latency problems, but it’s nothing that Microsoft can’t work out with the time and resources. If Spencer’s estimate of within three years is correct, we could be streaming some games without a console fairly soon.