There has been plenty of renewed interest in Microsoft’s Xbox Streaming device in recent months. When Microsoft gaming chief Phil Spencer tweeted a photo showing the device, many thought it was imminent. Spencer has since said it is years from release and in a new interview, he says cost is the reason the device has not been released yet.
Peaking to The Verge on the Decoder podcast this week, Spencer says the device known as “Keystone” is currently too expensive:
“It was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside,” says Spencer “We decided to focus that team’s effort on delivering the smart TV streaming app.”
The streaming app is the Xbox TV app that made its debut this year on Samsung smart TVs. It provides users with access to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming on their TVs without a console.
While it is exclusive to Samsung at the moment, the Xbox TV app would likely be at the heart of any Xbox Streaming device.
Vault Boy left the shelter and stopped by my office to celebrate the #Fallout25 Anniversary. Congratulations to the @Fallout @Bethesda teams on this major milestone for an iconic franchise. pic.twitter.com/hGoN1sAQRK
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 10, 2022
Microsoft was looking at a retail price of between $99 and $129 for the streaming device. However, Spencer says building the device and adding a controller was only manageable with a retail price of $299.
That is more than just some wiggle room which is why Spencer has previously said the device is years away. Microsoft is waiting for better technology that it can add for cheaper it seems.
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