News

Microsoft is bringing Cloud Gaming to Xbox consoles

It's been announced that Microsoft's Cloud Gaming service will be coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox One this year.

August 24, 2021 10:33 AM

Over the past year, we’ve seen Microsoft make some strong progress with its Cloud Gaming service. Available for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, this service allows users to play Xbox Games on their smartphone, tablets, and other devices via streaming. Now, the company is looking to expand the service, as it’s been announced that Cloud Gaming will be coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox One consoles.

Microsoft announced the expansion of its Cloud Gaming service during the Xbox Gamescom showcase. Cloud Gaming is set to arrive on Xbox consoles this Holiday season. When it launches, Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to jump into a library of games instantly, without needing to install them. This will give players a faster way to try out titles, while also avoiding the stress of choosing which games to delete from their storage in order to make room for new ones.

One the service launches, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can accept multiplayer invites and immediately join their friends in playing a game they don’t own or have installed, like Sea of Thieves, through Cloud Gaming. What’s really interesting, this service will allow players on Xbox One to play some games that are exclusive to the Xbox Series X. Though it won’t be available at launch, Xbox One players will be able to enjoy Microsoft Flight Simulator through the Cloud Gaming service.

“We’ve been listening to our gamers and have heard their feedback loud and clear: they want to try new games fast without waiting for an install to finish. Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) on Xbox consoles lets you play new games faster than ever, optimizing space and saving you time,” said Catherine Gluckstein, Vice President & Head of Product & Strategy for Xbox Cloud Gaming.

The announcement of Cloud Gaming coming to Xbox consoles was just one of the several announcements made during the Xbox Gamescom stream, which we’ve got full coverage of for you right here on Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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August 24, 2021 10:34 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, Microsoft is bringing Cloud Gaming to Xbox consoles
- yoshimi20
  
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  August 24, 2021 10:45 AM
  
  This could be great for trying games like Sea of Thieves that I can't be bothered to download. Don't know if Flight Sim is on there yet?
  - JohnnyChugs
    
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    August 24, 2021 10:51 AM
    
    "Though it won’t be available at launch, Xbox One players will be able to enjoy Microsoft Flight Simulator through the Cloud Gaming service."
    
    Not there yet, but planned for a future inclusion
    - boarder2
      
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      August 24, 2021 10:55 AM
      
      They don't have anything in place yet to handle community/DLC content in XCloud which I think is the reason for the delay.
      
      If you have a bunch of scenery and aircraft purchases you're going to want to be able to use those on XCloud and making all that stuff available on-demand to whichever device your session gets assigned to is I guess a non-trivial problem.
      
      I'd be surprised if we saw FS on XCloud any time this year and probably not until middle-late next year even. Which is a bummer 'cuz it's such a great application for it.
- redshak
  
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  August 24, 2021 10:57 AM
  
  It’s neat I just find the lag enough to make me not use it. Jumps and attacks just feel off enough to make the game feel bad
  - errational
    
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    August 24, 2021 12:16 PM
    
    I mentioned in another thread I was able to play Hades and Skate 3 on my PC using Xcloud. I think YMMV depending on the distance from an Azure DC?
    - TreMetal
      
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      August 24, 2021 12:28 PM
      
      I play MLB The Show on there and it is very much a timing based game and it works fine for the most part. I cannot go past all-star difficulty because the low FPS makes the pitches hard to handle. It's definitely fine for most games. It does require like 20-30 Mbps though.
- derelict515
  
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  August 24, 2021 12:22 PM
  
  Every game now has an instant speed demo with no dev costs required would be a good development
- daggot
  
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  August 24, 2021 2:46 PM
  
  BOOO No support for my beloved 360!?
  - baron calamity
    
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    August 24, 2021 5:26 PM
    
    Honestly I'm not sure its powerful enough. Its networking probably isn't fast enough either. Maybe they could make a version but I'm not sure it would be worth it.
  - Halen
    
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    August 24, 2021 5:56 PM
    
    Finally they could deliver their promise of 1080p games natively on the 360
- MagicWishMonkey
  
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  August 24, 2021 5:50 PM
  
  Will you be able to play pc only games on console?
  - boarder2
    
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    August 24, 2021 10:02 PM
    
    No. Xbox cloud games are the console versions. You can play console only games from PC, though, if they’re on the cloud service.
    - ColoradoCNC
      
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      August 25, 2021 12:19 AM
      
      As someone who probably won't be getting an XSX any time soon, I love that I still get a chance to play some of the console games even if streaming isn't the ideal solution.
- Maarc
  
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  August 24, 2021 11:05 PM
  
  Might give some life until I can get a series x!