Last year, Microsoft announced that it was working on a new Xbox streaming device for cloud gaming. Earlier this month, the prototype Xbox streamer leaked out in a tweet from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, seen in the image above. Now, during an interview at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference, Phil Spencer said the project is “years away.” When asked about the streaming device, Spencer said “Keystone was the codename of something we were incubating internally, which was … a streaming console, so there’s no local gameplay, low-cost, plug it into a TV, and you’d be able to stream Xbox games. In the late spring, we pivoted to working with Samsung. We put an app on Samsung TVs that let you play Xbox games, and I still have the prototype; it sits on the shelf behind my computer.” He then later said “Will we do a streaming device at some point? I suspect we will, but I think it’s years away.”

There have been rumors of Microsoft releasing its own hardware for cloud gaming through its Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service for many years but now it’s actually happening. The company announced that it is building a standalone streaming device that can be plugged into a TV for xCloud gaming. It also announced that TV apps for xCloud, which currently only supports mobile devices, are coming soon. Read more ›