Xbox Cloud Gaming is finally rolling out major latency fixes
Microsoft has detailed its work on latency improvements for games on the cloud-based platform. What’s more, mouse and keyboard support is still expected to arrive later this year.
Currently, Xbox Cloud Gaming’s display pipeline tolerates latency of around 8-74 milliseconds. This is the time it takes for controller input to register in-game. However, it is now working on bringing its Direct Capture technology to a wider number of games on the service. As of the latest update, this will reduce the latency to an impressively low 2-12 milliseconds (opens in new tab) From Morgan Brown of the Xbox Game Streaming team.
Likewise like many great 4K TVs, Direct Capture reduces latency by disabling a number of features. These include HDR, dynamic scaling, and a 1440p resolution cap. That last one we don’t need to worry about right now. Xbox cloud gaming is currently limited to 1080p on PC and Xbox Series X|S, and 720p on mobile.
Microsoft has also reinforced its desire to bring mouse and keyboard support to Xbox Cloud Gaming. Brown, a software engineer on the team, says Xbox is “working on adding it to streaming for PC users.” Disappointingly, though, we still don’t have a definitive date for when mouse and keyboard support will arrive.
The shocking omission means that currently, PC players are relegated to using a controller on the streaming service. Additionally, this will mean that mouse and keyboard-based games like Age of Empires 4 on Xbox Game Pass will eventually be made available via the cloud.
growing pains
Direct Capture is already supported by a handful of games on the Xbox Cloud Gaming Service. But we’re glad to see that Microsoft has started rolling out this feature to a wider selection of titles. However, limitations like disabling HDR and scaling too much suggest that even the best cloud gaming services are still in their infancy.
However, we’re not going to pour cold water on Microsoft’s efforts here. Low latency is important in competitive multiplayer environments where feedback gives players an advantage.