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Microsoft expands Xbox Cloud Gaming to Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers

More Game Pass subscribers can now access Xbox cloud games

www.theverge.com

Microsoft expands Xbox Cloud Gaming to Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers

Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers are also getting access to some PC games.

Microsoft is expanding its Xbox Cloud Gaming technology to Xbox Game Pass Core or Standard subscribers, dropping the requirement for the highest tier Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for access to cloud games. As part of an Xbox Insider test, Microsoft is also providing access to some PC games for Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers.

Microsoft currently restricts access to Xbox Cloud Gaming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to get cloud access, meaning you have to pay $19.99 a month to get access to xCloud. Xbox Insiders can now start testing the ability to stream cloud games included with Game Pass Core and Standard subscriptions.

"As part of this Insider experience, Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers will be able to stream cloud playable games included with their subscription or select cloud playable games they own," explains the Xbox Insider team.
The expansion of Xbox Cloud Gaming to more Game Pass tiers comes just a week after Microsoft hinted at "more affordable" and accessible ways to access Xbox cloud games. Microsoft was also previously working on a separate "dedicated" version of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft has also hinted in the past that there could even eventually be a free version Xbox Cloud Gaming in exchange for ads.

Microsoft is also expanding PC game access to Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers, too. "As part of testing, Xbox Insiders subscribed to Game Pass Core or Standard will for the first time gain access to PC versions of select titles, giving you even more flexibility and the choice to play on a PC or Windows handheld," says Microsoft.

If you want to try out Xbox Cloud Gaming and PC games on Game Pass Core or Standard, you can join Microsoft's Xbox Insiders program and then visit xbox.com/play to access cloud games or the Xbox app on Windows for the additional PC titles.

 

[Darsxx82]

"Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard subscriber are also getting access to some PC games"

?? As written, I don't quite understand what they're saying here. Are there any PC versions of games that can be run via Xcloud?

 

[Diseased Yak]

Wonder if it's finally coming out of beta soon. Has been working flawlessly for me, been playing some Grounded 2 via the app on my TV.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Thats great! Your move Sony.

 

[LordCBH]

Nice!

 

[Kacho]

Wonder if it's finally coming out of beta soon. Has been working flawlessly for me, been playing some Grounded 2 via the app on my TV.

I've wondered about that too. It's been in beta forever while Nvidia and Stadia (RIP) wiped the floor with them.

The Ronald guy says they invested heavily in improving xCloud and remote play this year. I didn't see a noticeable improvement with xCloud but remote streaming is damn near perfect no matter where I play.

 

[adamsapple]

?? As written, I don't quite understand what they're saying here. Are there any PC versions of games that can be run via Xcloud?

Hmm, that's interesting.

Xcloud streaming of previously PC only games on consoles, like Warcraft or Starcraft maybe?

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Probably realize when the next device is going to rely heavily on cloud and remote play, you should make it more accessible.
It's too bad cloud access can't just be baked into the price of the consoles or written off somehow. I'd rather not have a sub, but still access all my SP games any way I want.

 

[Darsxx82]

Hmm, that's interesting.

Xcloud streaming of previously PC only games on consoles, like Warcraft or Starcraft maybe?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

they should rename cloud gaming as remote native play. Fixing all problems using PR; the Phil Spencer way

 

[reinking]

?? As written, I don't quite understand what they're saying here. Are there any PC versions of games that can be run via Xcloud?

It looks to me like they are going to allow select PC titles to work the way it does with Ultimate right now. You will still need to access these games via PC or PC handheld.

No cloud with PC Game Pass? Weird since they are launching the ROG Xbox Ally. Maybe this is a way to try and retain Ultimate/Console Game Pass instead of a lot jumping to PC only.

 

[Punished Miku]

?? As written, I don't quite understand what they're saying here. Are there any PC versions of games that can be run via Xcloud?

If I had to guess, it means that on the new Xbox PC UI, you can stream games now through that UI instead of a browser, with GP Core.

 

[Topher]

It looks to me like they are going to allow select PC titles to work the way it does with Ultimate right now. You will still need to access these games via PC or PC handheld.

No cloud with PC Game Pass? Weird since they are launching the ROG Xbox Ally. Maybe this is a way to try and retain Ultimate/Console Game Pass instead of a lot jumping to PC only.

That's what I dont get. Why not just cloud available across the board

 

[Magic Carpet]

Need to justify diverting all those Series chips from console to cloud. Have these chips been sitting idle for the past 3 years? That one person in North Dakota playing Flight Sim Tuesday not covering the bills?

 

[Spyxos]

I tried it again a few days ago, and it's amazing how bad it still is. The image quality was poor and still quite laggy, even though it is playable. Has there been no progress at all in all these years?

Even Stadia looked better and was more stable, and that was years ago. And Geforce Now is in a completely different league.

 

[adamsapple]

It looks to me like they are going to allow select PC titles to work the way it does with Ultimate right now. You will still need to access these games via PC or PC handheld.

No cloud with PC Game Pass? Weird since they are launching the ROG Xbox Ally. Maybe this is a way to try and retain Ultimate/Console Game Pass instead of a lot jumping to PC only.

For some reason I thought Cloud was included in the base PC GP, but just looked it up and it isn't. If they're making this change, they're probably gonna make the change to PC GP as well, soon.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

wait a fricking minute.... this is sus... like, a feature announced after the price increase... i guess the backlash, hate, Xbax tax-Xbax bad was strong enough for MS "Hold the Line"

 

[Astray]

So is this gonna be for your owned games or do they give you access to the GP games you'd get as Ultimate?

 

[adamsapple]

So is this gonna be for your owned games or do they give you access to the GP games you'd get as Ultimate?

Bit of both, cloud stream doesn't currently cover the entire library of games that can be bought, but they keep increasing that list every other week.

However, everything that goes on GP is generally available on cloud stream as well.

Stream your own game | Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on  Xbox.com

www.xbox.com

 

[Tobimacoss]

?? As written, I don't quite understand what they're saying here. Are there any PC versions of games that can be run via Xcloud?

No, they aren't giving you PC games via xCloud but natively. Core and Standard tiers will get SOME select PC Games to run on windows handhelds or other windows devices.

It's basically letting the Console owners who purchase the Xbox Ally still get some free native games with Core and Standard, incentivize them to upgrade to Ultimate. It's also setting the stage for the nextgen Xbox platform as Core, Standard, Ultimate tiers should be expanded to ALL AMD APUs across PCs, Consoles, Laptops, Handhelds.

Thats great! Your move Sony.

With this, MS basically reduced barrier of entry to Xbox hardware to $5 month (Yearly Core on sales). Sony can't afford to do that, that's why they restrict their streaming to only $18 month Premium tier and PS5 hardware only.

I've wondered about that too. It's been in beta forever while Nvidia and Stadia (RIP) wiped the floor with them.

The Ronald guy says they invested heavily in improving xCloud and remote play this year. I didn't see a noticeable improvement with xCloud but remote streaming is damn near perfect no matter where I play.

Enable Stats Overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. What ping, decode times, packet loss does it say?

Hmm, that's interesting.

Xcloud streaming of previously PC only games on consoles, like Warcraft or Starcraft maybe?

Not streaming PC games but native access to some games. Probably play anywhere only. So if a game is on Standard tier, and it's Play Anywhere, you would be able to get the PC version natively also, without having to subscribe to PC Gamepass or Ultimate.

Probably realize when the next device is going to rely heavily on cloud and remote play, you should make it more accessible.
It's too bad cloud access can't just be baked into the price of the consoles or written off somehow. I'd rather not have a sub, but still access all my SP games any way I want.

xCloud currently runs on Series S profiles on custom Series X server blades. They do that to reduce electricity and cooling costs. According to ABK leaked court documents, it costs MS roughly ¢3 per hour for xCloud at 1080/60. So 100 hours a month average costs them $3 month per user. With Series X profiles for 4k/60, those costs could be easily $5 month for 100 hours average.

Point is, servers aren't free to maintain, there's a cost involved. They are giving you streaming included into Core which can be as cheap as $6.25 month or lower with the yearly plan. That's the lowest they can go.

It looks to me like they are going to allow select PC titles to work the way it does with Ultimate right now. You will still need to access these games via PC or PC handheld.

No cloud with PC Game Pass? Weird since they are launching the ROG Xbox Ally. Maybe this is a way to try and retain Ultimate/Console Game Pass instead of a lot jumping to PC only.

PC Gamepass gets Day One games. Adding xCloud to that basically turns it into Ultimate. Besides, xCloud runs on Series X servers, PC games are different versions most times. You can use PC Gamepass in conjunction with Nvidia GFN or Boosteroid.

If I had to guess, it means that on the new Xbox PC UI, you can stream games now through that UI instead of a browser, with GP Core.

Should be doable, but Core and Standard tiers will also get access to some native PC games on the Xbox app.

That's what I dont get. Why not just cloud available across the board

Only Ultimate gets Day 1 games and xCloud.

I tried it again a few days ago, and it's amazing how bad it still is. The image quality was poor and still quite laggy, even though it is playable. Has there been no progress at all in all these years?

Even Stadia looked better and was more stable, and that was years ago. And Geforce Now is in a completely different league.

Enable stats overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. Xbox.com/play

What ping, decode times, packet loss do you get?

So is this gonna be for your owned games or do they give you access to the GP games you'd get as Ultimate?

Every tier will get access to the Buy and Stream catalog, plus the Gamepass catalog for that respective tier. So Core gets Core catalog plus Buy and Stream.
Standard gets standard catalog plus Buy and Stream.

Ultimate gets Ultimate catalog plus Buy and Stream.

 

[calico]

I never feel more like a boomer than when Microsoft tries to explain its xbox products and services.

 

[Kacho]

Enable Stats Overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. What ping, decode times, packet loss does it say?

I only use it on my phone. I assume it uses Safari as that is my default browser.

 

[Topher]

No, they aren't giving you PC games via xCloud but natively. Core and Standard tiers will get SOME select PC Games to run on windows handhelds or other windows devices.

It's basically letting the Console owners who purchase the Xbox Ally still get some free native games with Core and Standard, incentivize them to upgrade to Ultimate. It's also setting the stage for the nextgen Xbox platform as Core, Standard, Ultimate tiers should be expanded to ALL AMD APUs across PCs, Consoles, Laptops, Handhelds.

With this, MS basically reduced barrier of entry to Xbox hardware to $5 month (Yearly Core on sales). Sony can't afford to do that, that's why they restrict their streaming to only $18 month Premium tier and PS5 hardware only.

Enable Stats Overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. What ping, decode times, packet loss does it say?

Not streaming PC games but native access to some games. Probably play anywhere only. So if a game is on Standard tier, and it's Play Anywhere, you would be able to get the PC version natively also, without having to subscribe to PC Gamepass or Ultimate.

xCloud currently runs on Series S profiles on custom Series X server blades. They do that to reduce electricity and cooling costs. According to ABK leaked court documents, it costs MS roughly ¢3 per hour for xCloud at 1080/60. So 100 hours a month average costs them $3 month per user. With Series X profiles for 4k/60, those costs could be easily $5 month for 100 hours average.

Point is, servers aren't free to maintain, there's a cost involved. They are giving you streaming included into Core which can be as cheap as $6.25 month or lower with the yearly plan. That's the lowest they can go.

PC Gamepass gets Day One games. Adding xCloud to that basically turns it into Ultimate. Besides, xCloud runs on Series X servers, PC games are different versions most times. You can use PC Gamepass in conjunction with Nvidia GFN or Boosteroid.

Should be doable, but Core and Standard tiers will also get access to some native PC games on the Xbox app.

Only Ultimate gets Day 1 games and xCloud.

Enable stats overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. Xbox.com/play

What ping, decode times, packet loss do you get?

Every tier will get access to the Buy and Stream catalog, plus the Gamepass catalog for that respective tier. So Core gets Core catalog plus Buy and Stream.
Standard gets standard catalog plus Buy and Stream.

Ultimate gets Ultimate catalog plus Buy and Stream.

Thanks Phil

 

[Lightbreak]

What they should do is fix it. Input lag at its highest. Stadia was 1000000% percent better

 

[Spyxos]

Enable stats overlay in xCloud settings on Edge browser. Xbox.com/play

What ping, decode times, packet loss do you get?

Bitrate did go up to 12 while playing. And no packet loss.

 

[ReBurn]

they should rename cloud gaming as remote native play. Fixing all problems using PR; the Phil Spencer way

They already have a remote play option within cloud gaming that lets you stream from console. Cloud gaming is playing from their servers, remote play is playing from your device.

 

[JoeDanny]

XCloud has definitely been disappointing thus far. Cloud streaming on GeForce Now or even PS5 is lightyears better. The whole "any device is an Xbox" push has felt weird to me with how neglected their cloud service has been for years. Like why do this whole marketing campaign when the main thing that enables your TV, phone, or streaming stick to play Xbox games is total crap?
Edit: To be fair, there are times when XCloud works pretty well with no hitches. But the majority of the time it is grainy, stuttery, and downright hard to look at. It's just not as consistent as the other options for me.

 

[rm082e]

This will save Xbox.

 

[mayham2199]

XCloud has definitely been disappointing thus far. Cloud streaming on GeForce Now or even PS5 is lightyears better. The whole "any device is an Xbox" push has felt weird to me with how neglected their cloud service has been for years. Like why do this whole marketing campaign when the main thing that enables your TV, phone, or streaming stick to play Xbox games is total crap?
Edit: To be fair, there are times when XCloud works pretty well with no hitches. But the majority of the time it is grainy, stuttery, and downright hard to look at. It's just not as consistent as the other options for me.

This is really the most confusing part to me when it comes to Xbox. They have a lot of great ideas but there all half assed and not quite where they need to be for public release but they just publicly release it anyways, get shit on for it, and then wonder why their products aren't taking off in the gaming space.

The PC store was released in a shit state, Cloud, play anywhere, the ROG ally is just confusing as hell even to other tech channels. I don't get why they are doing it this way I really don't. Everything just feels like a good but incomplete idea.

 

[Dorfdad]

Can you just please address bitrate for all those of us who have been ultimate paying customers for the duration. Instead of giving more bandwidth and functions to those who don't want to use your service.

They better be updating to 1440p / 60 first!

 

[Quasicat]

I use Xbox Cloud Streaming all of the time on Steam Deck as we only have one TV in the house with 4 people using it. I don't need it running over 720p because the Deck only goes up to 800. I probably won't be dropping Ultimate next year because I use the other parts of the service, but it's cool that they are opening this up for more people.