Xbox Keystone: the 100% streaming console set aside because of its price

For several months there were rumors ofa hardware conceived by Microsoft and which would have been thought only for the cloud gaming. A miniature console to plug directly into your television to enjoy streaming video games via the Game Passand who had discreetly shown himself in a photo of Phil Spencer last month.

It was good toa prototype of Keystonethe 100% streaming console of Microsoftbut the project shown was abandoned. Recently, the boss of Xbox spoke with The Verge and returned to the internal failure of the project Keystonewhich was problematic because of its price:

The console we built that people have now seen, Keystone, was more expensive than we wanted when we built it with the hardware we had in it, and we decided to focus that team’s efforts on the creation of the streaming application for Smart TV.

I want to be able to include a controller in it when we do this project. So it was really about whether we can build the right product at the right price or, if we can’t, how do we focus the team’s efforts? And we decided to go do the TV app with Samsung and we’re really happy with the results there.

Phil Spencer details and explains thathe wanted a price between $99 and $129 for the Keystonein order to have a real price difference with the Xbox Series S, officially sold at $299, but which is already sold off during the sales. A selling price difficult to reach for the manufacturer, especially by including a controller costing $ 59 and taking into account the costs of research and development, whether side hardwaredesign or for ui.

For now, the project Keystone is therefore set aside, Xbox prefer to introduce cloud gaming directly on the Smart-TVbut the manufacturer does not completely abandon its idea of hardware 100% streaming, it just needs to find the right formula. It remains to be seen if it will succeed. You can find the Xbox Series S at €279.99 on Amazon.

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