The Verge has reported that Microsoft is in the process of creating its own cloud gaming service that will stream games to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices. Halo 4 was demoed at an internal Microsoft meeting, and it was running smoothly on both a phone and PC according to The Verge’s source who was apparently familiar with the meeting’s contents. The article went on to say that Microsoft managed to get the latency of the stream down to just 45ms on a Lumia 520.

This opens the possibility of Microsoft being able to stream games via the internet to all hardware that runs on the company’s most modern operating systems. There was no word on the size of the internet pipe needed to stream games smoothly, however.

Microsoft delivering some sort of streaming service is all but confirmed at this point. For starters, Sony purchased a cloud-streaming gaming service last year called Gaikai, which will be used to provide backwards-compatibility for PS3 games running on the upcoming PlayStation 4. That’s not something any competing company offering a similar overall service would not want to address in their own product lineup.

Secondly, Senior Director of the Xbox Division Albert Penello spoke to Gamespot Australia about many things Xbox One in early September, including the power and potential uses of the cloud. He said

Using our Azure cloud servers, sometimes [cloud-based streaming is used for] things like voice processing. It could be [used for] more complicated things like rendering full games like a Gaikai and delivering it to the box. We just have to figure out how, over time, how much does that cost to deliver, how good is the experience.

Going on this, a future that includes the ability to stream games to Windows devices and the Xbox One via the internet is looking inevitable. The fact that Microsoft has demonstrated that it can be done on smartphones very heartening indeed, and hopefully a hint of things to come.