Here's How Microsoft's xCloud Controls Will Work on a Smartphone

Xbox One games offered on Microsoft's upcoming cloud gaming service can switch to a touch-screen-based control scheme when played on a smartphone or tablet.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Streaming an Xbox One game to your phone sounds like a cool idea, but how will the controls work?

It's an issue Microsoft discussed on Thursday at GDC as the company prepares its upcoming game streaming service, xCloud. The new platform will allow you to play the most graphically intense games on any hardware, including smartphones, over a wireless connection.

The problem is that many PC and Xbox One titles are built with mouse and keyboard, or physical controllers in mind. Games for smartphones, on the other hand, tend to have simple, touch-screen-centric control schemes.

At GDC, Microsoft presented a solution: a suite of software tools, called the Touch Adapation Kit, to help developers seamlessly translate their game controls into virtual layouts that can appear on a phone.

When xCloud debuts, it'll focus on streaming existing Xbox games to any device, said Microsoft's program manager Gus Apostol. So the company demoed a solution that translates Xbox gamepad functions to a smartphone's touch screen.

As you can see, the layout is full of buttons, in addition to the directional pad. But there's enough open space to still see the game.

Developers can choose to use the default layout, but ideally they'll customize the touch control layout for their game. Developers can also program the control interface to change if the game switches from one mode to another. For example, a first-person shooting section will use one control layout, whereas a driving section of the game will use another.

Bringing games to xCloud will require extra work on the part of the developer to ensure the software can transition smoothly over different hardware. But according to Microsoft, the potential payoff is reaching a wider audience of gamers who primarily play using smartphones or tablets.

XCloud will also be compatible with controllers that can connect to mobile devices. The company plans to start public trials of the service later this year. The tests will occur as rival Google plans to launch its own cloud gaming platform, Stadia, some time in 2019.