It was Keystone, a “mini Xbox” that you can play from the cloud.
What Microsoft has been working on Xbox dedicated to playing from the cloud, this is nothing new. In 2021, Redmond residents confirmed they are developing stick play from any TV without using a console. The company will rely on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming to promote the team, which we learned a year later was called internally Foundation stone.
This device was originally offered as a sort of “Xbox Chromecast”, but unfortunately we weren’t able to see it in action. Although Microsoft never officially canceled it, there were signs that would not have come to light. Although now we can at least know what this peculiar device would look like.
Windows Center gained access to a patent that the company registered in June 2022 and which was issued at the end of December 2023. It opens up the look and feel of Keystone and allows us to see that “mini-Xbox” look from all angles and play from the cloud.
As the graphs show, Keystone will be a compact box that can be placed under any TV.. At the top there will be an Xbox logo and a round cap of sorts, which will obviously only serve aesthetic purposes. In this case, perforations for ventilation would be located in the aft part.
On the front panel there will be a power button with an Xbox isotype and a USB-A port, and on the side there will be a button for connecting a new controller. Meanwhile, the rear panel will have space for an HDMI port and an Ethernet connection, as well as a power cable connection. Finally, on the base of the device there will be an inscription Greetings from Seattle (Greetings from Seattle).
Keystone, Xbox for a cloud game that went nowhere
The Keystone case is quite striking because at the time made quite a lot of noise. Microsoft’s strategy for Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming suggested that a device with these specifications could be a more than attractive option. However, the inability to reduce production costs and offer it at an affordable price—ranging from $99 to $129, according to Phil Spencer—doomed it to exile.
The leader of Microsoft Gaming admitted that They achieved what this device set out to achieve with the Xbox app on Samsung TVs.. Therefore, it was not possible to commit millions of dollars to create new hardware when a software solution was already available.
Spencer himself admitted that the Keystone prototype was sitting on a shelf in his office. And he even showed it in a photo he shared on X (Twitter) in 2022. “What were we talking about putting the old prototypes on the shelf, boss?” — the official Xbox account responded to this publication.
Although Keystone remained in second or third place, Don’t rule out the possibility that Xbox will revive it in the future.. The discovered patent has a lifespan of 15 years, and with Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming growing in relevance, it wouldn’t be strange if the concept of a console that can only be played from the cloud takes the lead again. .