Microsoft's xCloud game streaming service is more than just a nifty tool for playing triple-A games on your phone. In fact, as the industry scrambles to keep things rolling during the Covid-19 pandemic, this streaming service seems to be playing a key role in keeping the tech giant's developers moving.

Like Google Stadia and others, xCloud allows users to stream Xbox games to their cell phones via the Internet. The tool may have only been available to the public in select regions this September, but according to a new report from Bloomberg, it appears to have been integral to the launch of the new Xbox console (and, conveniently, all the games that also run on the PC).

Access to high-end hardware remains a challenge for game studios; for Bungie, it meant providing developers with "developer-grade laptops" for their home offices. However, it appears that Microsoft has used the new streaming technology for testing, allowing developers to access high-end machines without having to lug new hardware home. [Alan Hartman, head of Turn 10 Studios, told Bloomberg, "One of my best graphics engineers was asking how much it would cost to run a data cable to his house, because he lives in the woods. He said, "Because his house is in the woods.

But instead of digging through the woods and laying cables, Turn 10 is developing the next Forza Motorsport on older Xbox One consoles. The developers are using xCloud and unnamed internal tools to stream more powerful hardware to the aging Xbox. At the moment, nearly 60 studios are using the service, most of them Microsoft teams, but also large third-party publishers like Activision Blizzard.

Of course, Microsoft has not been able to completely avoid the massive wave of delays this year, and "Halo Infinite," which was supposed to be the flagship of the launch, has been pushed back to 2021.