"Rumor: Microsoft Bringing Game Pass And Published Titles To Switch"

I ain't even going to bother to change the headline because I can't think of anything to add or take away from it!

"According to a report from outlet Direct Feed Games, an outlet that has a strong track record for rumors especially centering around Nintendo, Microsoft and Nintendo are about to get together in a big way in the near future. Not only will some Microsoft games find their way to the Switch, but it looks like the entire Game Pass library might arrive via the magic of streaming.

The report states that Microsoft is looking into publishing some of their own catalog to the Switch in the form of actual ports. This is in no way strange for Microsoft, who has dabbled in things like lending out Rare for games on Nintendo systems and developing and publishing games on Nintendo consoles such as Minecraft. Microsoft-owned developers like Ninja Theory and Obsidian are still self-publishing their games on the Switch and other systems, as well.

This particular avenue is also not new to Nintendo, which has been experimenting with using cloud streaming as a way to play technologically demanding games for a few months now in Japan. Games like Resident Evil 7 and Assassin's Creed Odyssey have Switch ports in Japan, streaming a special version from a local server. Game Pass on the Switch would be no different."

That...would be...pretty crazy. I haven't had a lot of luck streaming games as I'm super sensitive to input lag but being able to play an Xbox One game on a Switch in bed would be a compelling argument. This would definitely be kind of a bombshell announcement if it were true, but I have a feeling it'd be announced before E3?

If that rumour is even partly true (some form of Microsoft first party partnership with Nintendo) that would be crazy.

I haven't had any experience with streaming and don't see it as ideal personally, but it would still be a huge get and massive for the industry.

It could be pretty cool - the rumblings of this have been around for a while. Between this and Google's upcoming gaming announcements at GDC this may be the year of the "Netflix for games." I imagine we'll hear about Amazon's plans pretty soon too.

I see this happening, microsoft is doing what it needs to to stay afloat in the games space and they already have stuff with minecraft i believe.

Out off all the gaming companies MS seems to be in the best spot for the future. MS has server banks all over the world that will allow them to implement this streaming stuff the fastest and most effectively.

I don't think anyone else has this infustrure in place, so they would need to build from the ground up. Or partner with a MS or Google type company to get the streaming future started

"The magic of streaming" is not how I would describe my experience trying to stream games. I just cannot get behind that idea at all. It absolutely is not for me, especially not while I'm living in rural Maine where I'm lucky to hit 5 Mbps down on the very best of days. I played through MGS4 on PS Now years back on a much stronger internet connection and it still sucked.

That's a separate conversation though. It'd be cool to have Microsoft games on the Switch, if only because I'll always support anything and everything coming to Switch.

I guess this means that Xbox is going to transition to more of an alternative OS gaming PC type device with no exclusives? And this coming gen is probably the last actual Xbox consoles.

It makes sense for MS. Hardware isn't their strength, and having Xbox be more like Surface (hardware made by Microsoft but with no unique features) fits with their model. They're not going to win any console races with their poor penetration in Europe and Asia, and software is ultimately what they do best.

I'll miss the Xbox brand, since I've been an Xbox first gamer for the last 3 generations, but in 10 years there probably won't be any consoles (except MAYBE something by Nintendo) so it's hard to feel too broken up.

MS is just switching (pun intended) to a streaming service to get ahead of the curve.

I wonder if this means Xbox Live integration on the Switch will be stronger than we think. Could we see Xbox achievements in Nintendo games? Could Microsoft enable a decent voice chat solution for the Switch through Live? That would all be wild, but it looks like the status quo of the console area is about to change.

Say this for Phil Spencer. He swings big.

It seems less crazy when you consider how slowly Microsoft is becoming about products and not hardware. I think it's a smart move for them.

I guess that's true if you consider the entire history of game consoles, but X1X is the best hardware out there right now and the OS that runs on it is kinda garbage.

I'm talking more about the company as a whole than the Xbox division. I mean the Xbox division has not been great with hardware (the original Duke controller, which I liked, and the size of the thing; then obviously the 360 era was a disaster; and including Kinect as mandatory with no idea how to use it) but even if you think they've got it right now, the Xbox One X isn't setting the world on fire with sales and isn't the division's major profit driver (which are its services.)

It makes sense for MS to try to focus on Live and Gamepass, which are both pretty good, and try to expand the user bases of those, rather than try to focus on shifting units for Xbox.

There's a lot more profit in becoming the Netflix of gaming than taking second or third place in the console race.

As a game pass subscriber and switch owner I'm certainly intrigued by this. I'm not sold on streaming games though. A big selling point of game pass for me is that it's not a streaming service.

Now they just need some software to back it up. Honestly, this whole thing would be a lot more enticing if Microsoft had any games worth getting excited about. I know they've been trying to make strides in that area, mostly through acquisitions like Obsidian, but until we actually see the results of those efforts in the form of compelling games, I'm having a hard time mustering any enthusiasm for the Xbox library, on the Switch or elsewhere.

This is a smart move. You might say it is more tactical than practical for Microsoft's own interests, but isn't that why it is an interesting move. 'Knowing who to rub up against to improve your own shine' is how public relations works.