It’s going to be a great Christmas for gamers on Xbox.
Earlier today, at its Gamescom 2021 showcase, Microsoft announced that it would be bringing its cloud gaming service, xCloud, to Xbox consoles. Starting this holiday season, folks with Game Pass Ultimate will have access to cloud gaming on their Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
xCloud will allow players to stream games first before committing to a download which takes precious time and SSD space. The feature will also let players dive into multiplayer games as soon as friends send an invite; no need to wait for an install to finish.
Players will know a title is cloud-gaming compatible if they see a cloud icon next to it in their Game Pass library. More than 100 such titles will be available to play during the initial phases of this integration.
Additionally, they will stream at 1080p 60fps, which is pretty good for any available Xbox console.
The highlight of xCloud on consoles is that owners of the Xbox One can stream Xbox Series exclusive titles on their consoles at some point in the future. So, if you’ve always wanted to play Microsoft Flight Simulator but were held back by your hardware, it’s happy days.
Currently, cloud gaming is only available on PCs and mobile. But, in addition to consoles, Microsoft is planning to bring the feature to TVs through partnerships with manufacturers and its very own game streaming stick.
Microsoft has been pushing the envelope when it comes to building a gaming service. In addition to launching two new-gen consoles, the tech giant completed its acquisition of Bethesda this year and added many of the developer’s AAA titles to its game library.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Microsoft can keep this momentum going. But it’s going to be even more interesting to see how Sony’s PlayStation responds.
There’s no confirmed date for when xCloud will arrive for Xbox consoles, but those part of the Xbox Insiders program should get it by this fall. Testing details for the same will be announced soon.
About Microsoft
Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, Microsoft is an American MNC that creates, licenses, supports and sells computers, software, electronics, video games, and corresponding services.
Some of the most popular titles in the world, like Age of Empires, Forza, Gears of War, Halo, Minecraft, Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and State of Decay, have been developed and published by Microsoft.
Microsoft is also known for establishing the famous console brand Xbox, along with the video game subscription Xbox Game Pass.
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