Microsoft Xbox Smart Game Delivery is the new feature of the next-gen console. Smart delivery is a short term solution that will let gamers play the Series X version of games even if they have purchased it on Xbox One. Smart delivery is only for two consoles. All Xbox games studios games and Cyberpunk 2077 will support this feature. We might even see more 3rd party games starting to support Smart Delivery. Even games that would be released on Xbox One first and Series X later would also be available on Microsoft Xbox Smart Game Delivery service. The service is a useful one because its use is not much useful. Xbox Smart Delivery will keep the current players on the platform without any long-term advantage.
What is Microsoft Xbox Smart Delivery?
Microsoft Xbox Smart Delivery is a purchasing system that gives you games on the Series XÂ even if you purchase it on the Xbox One. The service is limited to the games that will only release on both consoles. All the games that are developed by first-party Xbox studios will be part of Smart Delivery. The only confirmed third party game is Cyberpunk 2077. So the service will only be available for a couple of games. On top of that, it’s not a long term solution but rather a short term boost.
Microsoft Xbox Smart Game Delivery is a Marketing Tactic
There is nothing special about Smart game Delivery because it is only viable for a year at best. The grace period of the shift from one console to another is nearly a year. I am not a Playstation fanboy but I am stating the facts. I will even criticize Playstation as I have done in the past. The point is that this is a marketing tactic that people are perceiving as a good well gesture. Smart delivery is not a bad thing. I support such a service but the marketing of Smart Delivery is misleading to some extent. I just want to point out that Microsoft Xbox Smart Game Delivery is a small factor in a grand scheme of things. The service will only be viable for one year so why do we even need to get excited about it?
Playstation was not agreeing to cross-platform because their community is bigger than any other. When Playstation agreed to cross-platform then it was all due to the pressure from the community. To be honest they didn’t care until many players including me started using PC for non-exclusive content. Sony thought that players would escape from their ecosystem if they open up the community. In reality, their console sales were the same but their game and store sales were declining. In the end, platforms are based on the store so a console is just an instrument for the store and game sales.
How Microsoft is Trying to Keep Players on its Xbox Platform?
Microsoft will be using Microsoft Xbox Smart Game Delivery to keep current players in their community. With xCloud, they are trying to lean more towards gaming services rather than pure gaming. Keeping their current community and growing it further would reinforce their whole business structure. It will not surprise me if Microsoft announces cross-platform smart delivery for PC too.
The estimated sales number for Xbox One is 46.9 million and the official sales number of PS4 is 109 million. Microsoft has changed its strategy to attract players to their platform. There aren’t any pure exclusives on Xbox One. Exclusives can become a thing of the past. However, this time Xbox and Sony have an equal number of first-party studios. So the competition is supposed to be tuff, at least in theory.
Xbox wants to keep the current amount of players on its platform while they make strategies to expand their community. It is a good marketing tactic because a PS4 player won’t lose anything when they shift. On the other hand, Xbox One Players would lose lots of games in case they shift to another platform. If Sony does not act soon then they might lose to Xbox Series X. Maybe Sony has gotten cocky with the success of PS4 and they might do what Microsoft did with Xbox One. PS5 and Xbox Series X might be the last generation of the console before we switch to cloud gaming. So, a large community will be extremely helpful in the future.
The Success of Xbox Series X and PS5 will Also Depend on Their Presentation
When Xbox was announced, the Konnect feature created detest among the community and it was awkward. Sony won the next generation of the console before it even began. Microsoft is trying to follow Sony’s footsteps. Let’s just hope that Sony does not follow Microsoft’s step in its presentation. There are rumors that PlayStation 5 will have two different versions. One will be a PS5 Pro that will compete with Xbox Series X While others will be a low powered PS5 console with 9 teraflops power. Let’s just hope that we get a good start for next-gen consoles.
Verdict
Microsoft Smart Game Delivery is a good feature but they are marketing it as something phenomenal. The service is only available to a couple of games and it is only for the two consoles. Smart Delivery is just a marketing tactic that will keep the current count of players on Xbox while Microsoft tries to sway other players towards the Xbox platform. It is not something phenomenal but it is a good tactic if Sony doesn’t counter it with something of their own. The service will be useful but sadly Xbox Studios does not have enough games. So it might offer a couple of games in the first year, during the grace period of the console.
