A new patent recently teased a future Microsoft smartphone controller product. What does this mean? Well, for one, it leaves many speculating that streaming service Project xCloud will have its own hardware add-on.

The discovered patent covers the charger rather than the controller itself, implying Microsoft intended to keep news regarding the device on the down-low.

Of course, they couldn’t have expected fans to stay uninformed. In fact, several companies have already jumped on this revelation. Yanko Design even went out and rendered a 3D model predicting how the final product would look like.

Released blueprints reveal the following plan:

Yanko Design drew inspiration from that and came up with this:

Other interpretations include this:

It appears as though two Joy-con controllers stick onto either side of a horizontally-held smartphone, not too unlike the Nintendo Switch. After all, several video game fans have been dying for Microsoft to release a portable console, and this may be their answer to that.

This is Cool, But Why Should I Care?

Microsoft has consistently claimed that the ever-hyped Project xCloud allows anyone to play any Xbox game on any device. Naturally, many were skeptical of this. After all, smartphone functions are incredibly limited- touchscreens aren’t very gamer-friendly.

Up until now, Microsoft has demoed the streaming service using a normal Xbox controller. A stand plugged in at the top and attached it to the smartphone. Unfortunately, this method is not very portable. Microsoft must have foreseen this because this new gear is a lot easier to carry around.

If anything, the whole concept shows how on-top-of-the-game Microsoft is as of current. Though dates have not been sorted out, Project xCloud is already scheduled to start public testing this year. That being said, players can expect to receive more information at Gamescom next week.

With more Switch-like consoles appearing on the market, the device itself may very well be considered revolutionary.

What do you think of this new release, Pixels?