Phil Spencer says Xbox shelved game streaming box because it cost too much - Eurogamer.net

Couldn't deed desired $99-129 terms point.

Xbox brag Phil Spencer has revealed Microsoft's decision to "pivot away" from its antecedently announced Game Pass streaming container earlier this twelvemonth was owed to pricing concerns, with the institution incapable to get the instrumentality wrong its desired $99-$129 terms bracket.

Speaking successful the latest occurrence of The Verge's Decoder podcast (as spotted by VGC), Spencer explained, "The console we built that present radical person seen...was much costly than we wanted it to beryllium erstwhile we really built it retired with the hardware that we had inside."

Microsoft ne'er formally revealed this mentation of its streaming box, codenamed Keystone - a standalone instrumentality utilising a acquainted Xbox idiosyncratic interface, according to Spencer - but it did acceptable tongues wagging erstwhile a prototype showed up successful a photograph of the Xbox boss' bureau past month.

"A clump of america took [this version] location and it worked...really, truly well," Spencer added. "[But] erstwhile you are gathering caller products, it's ever about, bash you person the close design? Do you person the close idiosyncratic interface? Do you person the close lawsuit proposition? And the lawsuit proposition includes the price, and I deliberation each of america knew that we were a small retired of presumption connected price." That, helium said, was down to "some of the silicon choices that we were making astatine the clip we were designing", arsenic good arsenic Spencer's tendency to see a controller.

As for the terms Microsoft had been aiming for, portion Spencer "[didn't] privation to denote pricing specifically", helium did accidental "I deliberation you've got to beryllium $129, $99, similar determination successful determination for that to marque sense". He elaborated further elsewhere successful the podcast, explaining, "When you've got Series S astatine $299...I deliberation successful bid for a streaming-only container to marque sense, the terms delta to S has to beryllium beauteous significant."

While Microsoft hasn't abandoned its ambitions for an Xbox streaming container - it said it would "refocus [its] efforts connected a caller approach" earlier this twelvemonth - Spencer precocious told the Wall Street Journal it's present apt that immoderate specified instrumentality from the institution is "years away".