Microsoft’s Xbox streaming console, currently in development under the codename Keystone, will likely stay in development for quite a while longer, Xbox head Phil Spencer said, despite being near completion. Spencer said a few members of the Xbox team are already playing on the streaming console and testing it, but the problem isn’t how Keystone performs.
It’s how much the system costs. Spencer wants to sell the Xbox streaming console for under $150, ideally packaged with a controller, so you can play Xbox Game Pass games right out of the box via cloud gaming without spending a sizeable amount. However, the issue is trying to hit that price point, which Spencer believes Microsoft won’t be able to do for a long time.
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The company already reportedly sells every Xbox at a loss as it is. With supply shortages only just starting to ease slightly and inflation raising prices in general, the price point struggle is perhaps unsurprising. Setting the retail value higher would likely be out of the question as well.
Spencer told The Verge in a recent interview that while the games market remains strong, he fully understands that entertainment products occupy a precarious position in times of financial crisis, when other, more pressing needs naturally take precedence.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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