Xbox Cloud Gaming is Unprofitable as Critical Threshold is Identified

Xbox Cloud Gaming begins to lose money for Microsoft if a user spends more than roughly 15 hours per month in the cloud.

Cloud gaming was supposed to become a key direction for the development of Xbox, making it possible to run demanding games without a console or a powerful PC, even though maintaining data centers is becoming increasingly expensive.

Windows Central journalist Jez Corden revealed, citing Microsoft representatives, that the Xbox Cloud Gaming service becomes unprofitable after roughly 15 hours of streaming per month. This is attributed to growing demand for computing power for artificial intelligence systems, which use the same expensive resources. Microsoft has not published exact calculations confirming this threshold.

This does not mean abandoning the service, but the company may reconsider its development. The longer a user plays, the more server time they occupy at the same subscription cost. Microsoft will reduce technological costs by attracting more users or change the payment model. For players, the main question is whether this will lead to price increases or the introduction of stricter limits.