In the last year, Microsoft has consistently added custom touch controls to more than 100 games that can be streamed to Android and iOS phones using its service Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud). While this control system may seem awkward, the Redmond giant revealed that 20% of players use touch controls exclusively.
Xbox Cloud Gaming: Touch controls are increasingly used
“20% of Xbox Cloud Gaming users use the controls as their only game input system,” he explains Monty Hernandez, Xbox senior program manager. “Taking note of this trend, it is important for us that the touch-enabled games we launch on xCloud offer complete compatibility with this type of commands and that they are easy to use“.
Here is a list of the games in which the users use touch controls more:
- Hades
- New Super Lucky’s Tale
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Scarlet Nexus
- Dragon’s Quest XI
- Minecraft Dungeons
- Football Manager 2022 Xbox Edition
Given the amount of their use, it’s no surprise that developers are taking action for aadd these custom touch controls in the last year. Microsoft has made it relatively easy to do this among other things by allowing studios to build on a predefined layout that can be customized for each game.
Xbox Touch Controls were initially only available in Minecraft Dungeons, only to expand to 10 more games a month after the initial launch of xCloud. Microsoft has also used Xbox’s touch controls for its dual-screen Surface Duo phone, turning the Android device into a kind of portable console.
We just have to wait to find out how much support will extend in the coming months, even if it is realistic to think that Xbox will focus heavily on this feature.