Roughly three years in the past, Microsoft introduced it was engaged on a tool designed to stream video games solely by means of the cloud. The gadget, identified solely underneath its codename Venture Keystone, would ultimately be canceled, with no correct look past being noticed on Phil Spencer’s shelf in late 2022. Nevertheless, a brand new patent provides followers a greater have a look at Xbox’s canned cloud gaming console.
Noticed by Home windows Central, a brand new patent on the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) web site reveals {that a} patent was filed in June 2022. As you may see from the picture gallery under, Venture Keystone would have been a small box-shaped design. The round form on the highest and backside of the patent implies it will have had vents just like the one discovered on the entrance of the Xbox Sequence S console. The entrance of the patent shows two buttons — the Xbox energy button on the far left and a USB-A port on the alternative finish.
Extra photographs present that on the appropriate facet, there was a Bluetooth pairing button to pair a Bluetooth controller to the gadget. Venture Keystone’s rear confirmed one Ethernet port, one HDMI port, and a port to plug within the energy cable.
Venture Keystone’s patent reveals that Chris Kujawski invented the gadget. Kujawski, a Principal Designer and Inventive Director at Microsoft, was additionally the lead designer of the Xbox Sequence X and Sequence S consoles and the Xbox Adaptive and Xbox Elite controllers.
In an interview with The Verge in late November, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that Venture Keystone was placed on the again burner as a result of it was too costly to make. Spencer defined to the outlet that Microsoft hoped to promote the gadget at an reasonably priced value as a extra entry-level place to begin for these not seeking to spend $299 on an Xbox Sequence S.
“I do not wish to announce pricing particularly, however I believe you have to be $129, $99, someplace in there for that to make sense for my part,” Spencer mentioned on the time.
Whereas Venture Keystone by no means noticed the sunshine of day, the preliminary concept, which was to permit gamers to stream Xbox video games on the cloud by means of TV or monitor with none extra {hardware}, lives on by means of the Xbox TV App, which ultimately made its approach onto newer Samsung good TVs and gaming screens, such because the Samsung Odyssey Ark.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You’ll be able to observe her on Twitter @TayNixster.