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Microsoft shows off Project xCloud by playing Forza Horizon 4 on phone

The demo comes a week before Google is expected to announce its streaming game service.

Sean Keane Former Senior Writer
Sean knows far too much about Marvel, DC and Star Wars, and poured this knowledge into recaps and explainers on CNET. He also worked on breaking news, with a passion for tech, video game and culture.
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Forza Horizon 4, phone-style.

Microsoft

Microsoft gave us a live demonstration of its Project xCloud game streaming service Tuesday, showing Forza Horizon 4 being played on an Android phone.

Conveniently, the Inside Xbox video came a week before Google is expected to reveal its game-streaming service at Game Developers Conference (GDC) and days after Sony brought PS4 Remote Play to iPhone and iPad.

Microsoft's video shows Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft's corporate vice president of cloud gaming, letting presenter Julia Hardy play the the open world racing game as it's streamed to a phone, using an Xbox One controller connected via Bluetooth.

"We're developing Project xCloud not as a replacement for game consoles, but as a way to provide the same choice and versatility that lovers of music and video enjoy today," Choudhry wrote in an accompanying blog post. "We're adding more ways to play Xbox games."

So don't go trading in your Xbox One just yet.

Watch this: Comparing Project Stream to a console

Forza Horizon 4 only hit Xbox One and PC last October, so it's visually impressive and appears to run smoothly on a phone. We'd have to play it for ourselves to check for input lag (where a game doesn't respond instantly to our button presses) and see how the visuals hold up out in the real world.

Choudhry noted that Microsoft is on track to have gamers help it test Project xCloud "in real-world scenarios" later in the year.

A real life Forza Horizon 4 road trip is a thing of beauty

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