Microsoft announced yesterday that Xbox Cloud Streaming would be available through browsers like Edge, Chrome, and Safari, and it’s all thanks to Rainway. You might remember our previous coverage of the streaming app, which launched its Open Beta in January 2018 and has since raised more cash through investment rounds.
Kevin LaChapelle, General Manager of the Project xCloud Platform, stated:
Our goal at Xbox is to enable gamers around the world to play the games they want, on the devices they want, with the people they want. To provide a consistent cloud gaming experience that spans multiple devices, we’re making games available through browser which provides the necessary performance, compatibility, and speed that meets the needs of gamers. As we continue on our journey to deliver content on a range of new devices through the web, we’re excited to partner with Rainway and utilize their cutting-edge browser technology in our streaming stack.
Rainway CEO Andrew Sampson added:
By making our real-time interactive streaming technology available to our App Services partners, we usher in a new era where developers and organizations are empowered to build the future of computing, collaboration, productivity, and development. We are proud to say Microsoft, as one of our first App Services Partners, was able to use our technology to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to more users and devices.
On the Rainway blog, Sampson revealed how this partnership came to be in the first place.
You see, a Microsoft engineer used Rainway Gaming for a last-minute demo of Azure’s infrastructure in Africa. Our consumer product delivered 1080P @ 60 FPS gameplay to Chrome with no issues over the Azure backbone.
A few weeks later, Microsoft would begin facing its intractable problem: bringing Xbox Cloud Gaming to iOS. We’re no strangers to the strict restrictions put in place by Apple around game streaming on the App Store, but for Microsoft, this was a massive blow to the ability for their service to become the true “Netflix for Video Games.” That moniker isn’t just about the ability to stream games; instead, it is the ability for consumers to engage with and play traditional desktop and console games on any device they want.
With billions of potential customers being left unable to access their service, they looked to us for a solution. As such, we cut the proverbial Gordian knot with the Rainway SDK. Our solution not only brings Xbox Cloud Gaming to Safari on macOS, iPad OS, and iOS devices. It also brings it to modern web browsers on Windows, Chrome OS, and even Linux. No extensions, no plugins, and most importantly no downloads.
