Microsoft decided to drop the sale of the Xbox Keystone due to the price, which would not have been attractive as it was too expensive to manufacture.
Determined to force Xbox Cloud Gaming into homes around the world to attract new players and therefore new Xbox Game Pass subscribers, US publisher Microsoft is doing what it takes to diversify its offering with multiple partnerships (Samsung and Connected TVs, Logitech and Portable the G Cloud console or even the Meta and Quest 2 virtual reality headsets), despite offering a video game experience at the height of Sony Interactive Entertainment, its main competitor in the video game market for years.
Microsoft Xbox ‘Keystone’ streaming console has been delayed due to its price https://t.co/CXEmabn763 pic.twitter.com/csA6kLyFYX
— The Verge (@verge) November 16, 2022
If Microsoft also planned to offer the Xbox Keystone in addition to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, a console designed for cloud gaming with a controller was finally shelved. For Phil Spencer, games boss at the Redmond firm, explains that price would be an issue:
The Keystone console we built for people to see was more expensive than we wanted when we actually built it with the hardware we had inside, and we decided to focus this team’s efforts on distributing the streaming app to connected TVs. With Keystone, we’re always focused on when we can get the prices right, but when you have a $299 Xbox Series S and you see promotions during the holiday season, you obviously have a more expensive Xbox. Series X., I think for a streaming-only box to make sense, the price gap with the Xbox Series S would have to be quite significant.
Microsoft is willing to wait before offering Xbox Keystone
On the Decoder The Verge podcast, Phil Spencer talked about the price range he would like to reach when the Xbox Keystone actually hits the market:
I don’t want to announce a specific price, but I think it should be $129.99, somewhere in there for it to make sense in my opinion, because we weren’t there. We were not there with the controller. And I like this initiative. The reason it’s on my shelf is because the team rolled up their sleeves and got it done in nine months. And a group of us took it home and it worked. It worked very, very well. When you design new products, it all comes down to do you have the right design? Do you have the correct user interface? Do you have the right offer for the client? And the customer’s offer includes a price, and I think we all knew we were a little behind on price.