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Ex-Valve and Stadia's Kim Swift joins Xbox for Cloud Games

reksveks

Member
Xbox hires Portal dev Kim Swift to make cloud games (like Kojima's) | VentureBeat

I know that this thread is going to quickly get detoured by

- Kojima ain't making an xbox exclusive games
- Powah of the Cloud and Crackdown 3
- Shitting on Stadia
- finally shitting on the accuracy of Jeff Grubb's reporting

Now we have gotten that out of the way, it does seem like Xbox wants to help independent companies further leverage the Azure stack like Flight Simulator.

Microsoft is getting serious again about cloud-native games. To that end, the company’s Xbox division announced today it has hired former Stadia game design director Kim Swift to oversee cloud gaming collaborations with independent studios. Those studios will include Hideo Kojima’s Kojima Productions if and when Microsoft closes that previously reported deal, according to our sources.

“Kim is going to build a team focused on new experiences in the cloud, something that’s going to support our mission of bringing our Xbox games to connect 3 billion gamers to play our games,” Xbox Game Studios publishing boss Peter Wyse said in an interview to Polygon.

Xbox Publishing Tweet below



Mod of War Mod of War can you change the title from Kim Little to Kim Swift? I remembered Kim Little is a footballer.
 
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elliot5

Member
Will be interesting to see what they mean by new experiences in the cloud and games "for" the cloud. I assume this won't mean cloud-exclusive titles, but like you say Flight Sim style games that heavily leverage the cloud. I would assume this also means like what Microsoft did with Minecraft Dungeons, where the xCloud 'version' (read: cloud UI, the game runs on Xbox still) is touch/mobile native with different scalings and touch capable for selecting buttons on the screen (not just a touch controller overlay).

Definitely excited to see what they cook up and hopefully her job is more stable at MS than her previous ventures lol
 
That’s cool. I feel like Swift is in a similar boat as Jade Raymond. Their names both still carry weight but what have they really put out since 2007?
 

Interfectum

Member
That’s cool. I feel like Swift is in a similar boat as Jade Raymond. Their names both still carry weight but what have they really put out since 2007?
Pretty much. This is definitely a "what have you done lately" scenario where I'm skeptical of both until I see their output. Their names have been tossed around for years with almost zero result.
 


Cloud game is another take on strand game?

Phil-Spencer-1.jpg


Phil: "Can Hideo help me clean this box I'm holding?"
200.gif
 
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Interfectum

Member
Are Xbox fans okay with cloud only games? Has this been discussed as a possibility before? Seems like pretty big news MS is already shifting into the cloud like this.
 
I wonder what Kojima's mind will come up with. Another future prediction just like usual probably.

Are Xbox fans okay with cloud only games? Has this been discussed as a possibility before? Seems like pretty big news MS is already shifting into the cloud like this.
Online games are the most played games anyway. So for all the complaints about "not having Internet" people are pretty much fine playing online. I wonder what people do first - check Internet or pour a cup of coffee :messenger_grinning_sweat: But as we saw with MFS2020, cloud application can bring the incredible experience.
 
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Skyfox

Member
It's not about xcloud, it's the azure stack that's important here.
Except neither article talks about azure. When it comes to cloud gaming, responsiveness is number 1. I've been using xcloud and stadia and gfn for well over a year. Stadia is the only one that actually delivers this.
 

SafeOrAlone

Banned
I'll be honest, I've sort of ignored all talk of cloud and how it relates to gaming. Not out of spite, it's just something I hear in passing and don't think about. I just know it has something to do with streaming and storage capacity.

But I'm a big fan of Kojima, so I suppose I should educate myself.
 
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Javthusiast

Banned
Are Xbox fans okay with cloud only games? Has this been discussed as a possibility before? Seems like pretty big news MS is already shifting into the cloud like this.

Kojima going over to Xbox? Whatever, I have a Series S so no big deal, but cloud only?

The Office No GIF
 

Interfectum

Member
I wonder what Kojima's mind will come up with. Another future prediction just like usual probably.


Online games are the most played games anyway. So for all the complaints about "not having Internet" people are pretty much fine playing online. I wonder what people do first - check Internet or pour a cup of coffee :messenger_grinning_sweat:
This is different than online only. I'm guessing this will be cloud only which means you have to stream the entire game... that's a bit different. I'm all for it, btw, just surprised it's happening this soon for MS. I figured they'd shy away from cloud-only for awhile.
 
I'll be honest, I've sort of ignored all talk of cloud and how it relates to coming. Not out of spite, it's just something I hear in passing and don't think about. I just know it has something to do with streaming and storage capacity.

But I'm a big fan of Kojima, so I suppose I should educate myself.
Same here. I honestly don't know what this means.

Do you only use cloud to make stuff more demanding than the Series X can handle? Seems kind of strange honestly. There's no way my internet connection is fast enough for it.
 
This is different than online only. I'm guessing this will be cloud only which means you have to stream the entire game... that's a bit different. I'm all for it, btw, just surprised it's happening this soon for MS. I figured they'd shy away from cloud-only for awhile.
We don't know how the game is gonna play out. It is pretty much gonna be Microsoft Flight Simulator-like anyway. It seems like the common approach these days. I have 1Gb connection and XCloud even with One S server blades is working for me so I don't really care.
 
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Interfectum

Member
Nothing states this means a cloud only game. It's more likely it just leverages the cloud/Azure stack in ways like Flight Sim does to make that idea a reality.
Maybe... the term cloud is usually reserved for the heavily lifting being in the cloud vs "online only" which would use Azure stacks. Flight Sim is not labeled a 'cloud game' is it?
 
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Death Stranding 2.

Now you can deliver packages all over the world.
Didn't the original Death Stranding have the online support and the concept was to build the connections by the other users? Like one player leaves some items or whatever, another player picks it up. It would not work on Playstation - as its community has never been that much into co-op or online unlike Xbox - but the concept was there.
 
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reksveks

Member
Except neither article talks about azure. When it comes to cloud gaming, responsiveness is number 1. I've been using xcloud and stadia and gfn for well over a year. Stadia is the only one that actually delivers this.
I agree that in terms of game streaming, stadia is the best and is just held back by its commercial model.

Cloud gaming is a bit vague and isn't well defined but this article and team is more than just streaming game, it's about creating 'cloud-native games'.
 

Interfectum

Member
Didn't the original Death Stranding have the online support and the concept was to build the connections by the other users? Like one player leaves some items or whatever, another player picks it up. It would not work on Playstation - as its community has never been that much into co-op or online unlike Xbox - but the concept was there.
Yeah that was the first Death Stranding. Kojima needing more cloud power means he's going well beyond that. I'm intrigued as hell but this feels years away.

Wait, I missed your second comment... uh, it did work on PlayStation. When I played it there was a shitton of user created content in the game I was playing.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
So it's like happening or something? I don't think that I like Hideo's work post MGR, but it could be interesting.
 

elliot5

Member
Game Stack - Build Cloud-Native Games with Aether Engine On Azure | Microsoft Developer
Aether Engine | Spatial Simulation | Hadean
Opening Up New Possibilities with Minecraft | Hadean

Maybe... the term cloud is usually reserved for the heavily lifting being in the cloud vs "online only" which would use Azure stacks. Flight Sim is not labeled a 'cloud game' is it?



Microsoft likes to use the term 'Cloud-Native' when talking about building a game specifically with leveraging Cloud computing in mind.
 

reksveks

Member
Are Xbox fans okay with cloud only games? Has this been discussed as a possibility before? Seems like pretty big news MS is already shifting into the cloud like this.
As others mentioned, it could be a case where some of the stuff is done locally and a bunch of it is done server side.

As long as they know what can realistically be done in each environment, and it produces a good experience like Flight Simulator, I am okay with it.
 
Microsoft likes to use the term 'Cloud-Native' when talking about building a game specifically with leveraging Cloud computing in mind.
Cloud Native is a popular term in a corporate world. How many projects are cloud native it is a single queue and some instance on AWS lol

Would be fascinating like for example imagine people playing the game in the real world - like in some place on Earth - and they live their "shadows" - like avatars. Imagine what creepy games you can come up with when instead of relying on triggers to frighten the players, we could you the shadows of the players. And stuff like this. Very fascinating.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Nothing states this means a cloud only game. It's more likely it just leverages the cloud/Azure stack in ways like Flight Sim does to make that idea a reality.

Your guy Grubb states that's what it's likely to be:

Before Stadia, Swift was development lead on beloved Valve Software games Portal and Left 4 Dead. She will now use that expertise game/cloud expertise to help Xbox partners. Microsoft is making this move in part to specifically aid Kojima. That legendary developer was previously going to make a game with Stadia, but Google has backed away from games. The Metal Gear creator is now in the midst of negotiations with Xbox to produce that game. Kojima Productions is still in the early design phases for this project.

This is part of a bigger strategy to expand the reach of Xbox beyond physical hardware under a TV or monitor. Xbox boss Phil Spencer wants to reach an audience that normally wouldn’t spend hundreds of dollars on a console or PC.


----

Didn't the original Death Stranding have the online support and the concept was to build the connections by the other users? Like one player leaves some items or whatever, another player picks it up. It would not work on Playstation - as its community has never been that much into co-op or online unlike Xbox - but the concept was there.

So... you didn't play Death Stranding I take it?
 
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Abandoned coming exclusively to Xbox on the cloud? (right after PS5 on 25th for console) It goes well with how MS has nuked the word and meaning of exclusivity ROFL
 

dcmk7

Banned
If I was to hazard a guess I would think he's planning some sort of interactive movie. With choices subtly influencing the storyline similar to Life is Strange.
 
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