When Microsoft first started discussing its gaming cloud division in 2018, it had grand plans for the future of Xbox. “We believe there is going to be 2 billion gamers in the world, and our goal is to reach every one of them,” former xCloud chief Kareem Choudhry said in an interview with The Verge at the time. Microsoft wanted to use cloud gaming to reach potential Xbox players in emerging markets and the millions of mobile players who could stream Xbox games to their phones.

More than six years into building its cloud gaming vision, Microsoft is still far from its ambitious goal.

A world full of people streaming Xbox games to their devices still feels like years, if not decades, away. Microsoft hasn’t managed to break through on mobile, cloud gaming remains tied to a pricey Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and the visual quality and latency of Xbox streams is far behind the competition. But for all the hurdles, Microsoft isn’t giving up.