Microsoft will launch free xCloud streaming with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September

Microsoft plans to launch its game streaming service, currently known as Project xCloud, free to its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in September. The xCloud service will allow Xbox players to play games on mobile devices or even start a game on their consoles and resume it on their phone or tablet. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate combines access to Xbox Live, an Xbox Game Pass subscription, and, starting in September, streaming xCloud games into a single $ 14.99 monthly subscription.

Microsoft promises that over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles will be playable on a phone or tablet when the streaming service starts. However, Microsoft does not yet detail which countries will be supported at launch. The company has been building its Azure data centers in the US and in parts of Europe with Xbox One S blades to stream Xbox games via xCloud. Microsoft will update these servers to Xbox Series X hardware in 2021.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be the only way to access xCloud streaming at launch, but it won’t always be limited to Microsoft’s top subscription level.

“Over time we will continue to expand the way we present the stream as part of the platform and playing proprietary games that are not part of the subscription,” says Microsoft Xbox Chief Phil Spencer in an interview with The edge. “For launch, we are putting it on Ultimate at no additional cost. We think it’s a good audience for us, and it’s an audience that plays a lot of games. “

Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge

While everyone who accesses the xCloud game stream in September will do so via phone or tablet, Microsoft does not detail which devices will be supported yet. The software maker has been involved in ongoing discussions with Apple about App Store policies that have prevented Microsoft from testing xCloud with the same features as the Android version. Microsoft started testing xCloud on iOS devices earlier this year, but the test has been limited to just one aura game.

“We want to bring xCloud, eventually, to every screen that someone can stream games on. Right now we are just saying mobile, ”says Spencer. “There are ongoing discussions and we are working on things. We’ll talk more specifically about which mobile devices through August and the September release. “

It looks like we’re going to get more details on the overall xCloud launch in August. I also asked Spencer about the promised support for the PS4 controller and streaming xCloud games to the PC, and he promised more clarity about the company’s plans next month.

Project xCloud won’t even be the final name for Microsoft’s game streaming service. “This is not the official name, but you should think of it as a Game Pass broadcast or Xbox broadcast, something like that,” Spencer explains. “We don’t actually have the final name yet, but it won’t be Project xCloud.”

Beyond the launch plans, Microsoft has higher ambitions for xCloud that go beyond simply streaming to mobile devices. “There is an ease of navigation and purchasing power in xCloud that I find incredibly valuable today,” says Spencer. “Many times, the first time I play a game it will be on xCloud, so I can use it as my test experience.”

Microsoft plans to use xCloud as a vehicle to allow people to quickly test Xbox games. That could mean you log in to an Xbox console and see a friend play a game and join quickly before the full download is complete, for example, or just click on a Facebook Gaming link in the future.

“We want that trial version to be as easy as it is today in music and video, where I can send you a track on Spotify today and you can stream it instantly,” says Spencer. “Over time, wherever you see a game you should be able to try it.” The idea is that every time you watch a game on any device or web browser, you can start streaming it via xCloud in the future.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Some of these xCloud ambitions sound similar to what Google has promised with Stadia. Google’s big plan is to take advantage of YouTube to allow people to jump right into games. That has yet to materialize, but the ease of access to the games looks like it will be an important part of xCloud and Stadia in the future.

Some rival streaming services, such as Nvidia’s GeForce Now, have had trouble with publishers offering their games to stream without their permission. Microsoft has yet to encounter similar issues with publishers. “More than 100 games will be there,” says Spencer. “We already have a relationship with so many publishers, so for us the conversation is how we take the great business that we have built together as a platform, and as a studio or publisher, and expand it.”

That does not guarantee that every The Xbox Game Pass game will necessarily be available on the xCloud game stream, but it certainly seems like the vast majority will be. Many game developers have benefited from increased sales, thanks to Xbox Game Pass, especially independent developers who see the immediate benefit of access to more than 10 million subscribers.

Microsoft now plans to showcase more games on xCloud during its Xbox Series X Games event next week, and we should get stronger release details on the service in August.

Microsoft has been pushing toward this xCloud release for the better part of a decade, ever since the company first demonstrated that Halo 4 was running on a Windows Phone in 2013. After nearly a year of publicly testing xCloud, September will mark the First big step towards Microsoft’s ambitious plan to reach billions of gamers worldwide.