E3 2019: 7 Ups & 6 Downs From Microsoft's Conference

5. Microsoft Plays It Coy With xCloud & Project Scarlett

Halo wasn't the only thing given an oddly low-key treatment, though.

Despite rumours suggesting the show would feature a confident blow-out for both Microsoft's xCloud streaming system and also the next-gen Project Scarlett platform, only a few scattered minutes were actually devoted to each.

For xCloud, Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed that the service would allow players to stream their entire Xbox One library to a variety of devices for free, and would launch this October.

Technical specifics were however nowhere to be seen, which was all the more disappointing given the Google Stadia reveal mere days before this conference.

And similarly, the Project Scarlett "reveal" was largely an anti-climax.

While it would've been foolish to expect the name and design of the console to be revealed this far out, aside from a few intriguing technicals (which we'll get to in a moment), it really felt like Microsoft missed a golden opportunity to take advantage of Sony's absence.