By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Nintendo Won't Allow Xbox xCloud and Other Streaming Services on Switch, Says Analyst

Nintendo Won't Allow Xbox xCloud and Other Streaming Services on Switch, Says Analyst - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 June 2021 / 2,266 Views

Several games that are unable to run on the Nintendo Switch hardware have still been released on the hybrid console using the cloud. The list of games on the Switch that run via the cloud includes Control, Hitman 3, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Resident Evil 7.

This has lead to speculation that Microsoft and Nintendo would work together to bring Microsoft's Xbox xCloud service to the Switch. However, industry analyst David Gibson said Nintendo has told him they would not allow xCloud or other streaming services on the Switch. 

I have had Nintendo tell me directly they would not put other streaming services on the Switch," said Gibson. "Lost opportunity."

Microsoft's Xbox xCloud service is available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. The Xbox Game Pass service has reportedly surpassed 23 million subscribers.


A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.


More Articles

15 Comments
JWeinCom (on 21 April 2021)

Short term opportunity that would probably lead to long term problems.

This is similar to what happened with Toys R Us, who decided to outsource the online side of their business to Amazon. Eventually, they realized that online was too big of a component of their business to outsource, and by the time they broke with Amazon, they were too far behind to ever really catch up.

Cloud gaming is going to be a big thing, and Nintendo definitely will need some sort of Cloud service on their machines, but it definitely should not be Microsoft's.

  • +11
Fight-the-Streets (on 21 April 2021)

Lost opportunity? NO! I doubt that many more would buy a Switch just because of xCloud. Nintendo would barely earn something from xCloud but on the other hand getting those 3rd party titles (a few AAA and many indies) makes them much more money. Nintendo is clearly on the money side.

  • +10

Depends on how they did it. What if they had an xbox exclusive library for the switch gamepass. Games that never would have come to the switch. Nothing third party. It would be beneficial to both companies.

I agree with you. I think nintendo would not have increased profits if the library was identical to the Xbox. But there's a potential for the library to be tailored to Nintendo's liking.

Either way I think it's a long shot. And yeah. Nintendo gets what? 1 dollar per sub per month? Probably wouldn't even be that much. If it doesn't happen, they didn't miss out on a bunch of money.

  • -5
FromDK (on 21 April 2021)

WTF.. offcourse they wont.. he even know that they allready have started to offer cloud gaming themself.. why on earth would they let MS "sell" theese games on theire console?
The "Lost opportunity." make no sense.

  • +6
No_Name_Needed FromDK (on 21 April 2021)

Yeah this seems like something MS would want more that Nintendo. Crazy things are happening though so who knows what may happen in the future.

  • +3
mutantsushi (on 21 April 2021)

Game Analyst sounds like they must be real smart people...

  • +3
Airaku (on 21 April 2021)

This is kind of expected and a part of me thinks the Xbox/Nintendo partnership will have something do with preserving IP's and elements of gaming history. I'm just kinda trying to keep a lid on my own speculation and waiting until E3 in hopes that we will get some details of what this is all about. It could be as simple as Master Chief coming to Smash and the MCC coming to Switch and possibly even a Switch Pro port of Halo Infinite.

I'm guessing what ever the deal is, it'll benefit Nintendo more in the eyes of the consumer. Make no mistake Microsoft will still be extending the reach of their IP's and making it accessible to more gamers, which will make Microsoft more money and put a smile on their face.

This is of course all personal speculation that could be 100% wrong :)

  • 0
Ayla (on 21 April 2021)
  • -17