Supported by Microsoft Studios, Xbox Play Anywhere is a service that allows users to buy games digitally and play them either on Windows 11/10 or on their gaming console, the Xbox One, without any extra costs. Buying a game that has an Xbox Play Anywhere label on Microsofts Xbox One console unlocks it for free on Windows 10 devices, and vice versa. All titles with Xbox Play Anywhere support a number of Microsofts popular networking features, which are shared by Microsofts normal Xbox One console games, like Xbox Achievements and free cloud saving.
Games with Xbox 360 and Xbox One written across their graphics are found on their respective consoles, while those that use the Xbox Live tag are found on Windows 10 devices. Xbox Play Anywhere features are listed in video game descriptions in digital storefronts, typically next to the name and below the subheading “How You Can Play”.
So how to use Xbox play anywhere? If you purchase an Xbox Play Anywhere title from the Windows Store, and you wish to download the XPA experience to your Xbox One video game console, just log in to your Xbox One, and go to My Games & Apps. Boot the Xbox Windows app up to browse the games available, and then choose the button under the Xbox logo to get to your library.
To see if a specific Xbox game is playable on PC, look for it either on the Xbox website or in the Xbox Windows app. To play an Xbox game on your laptop or desktop, you can cast games via a Windows 10-preinstalled console companion, the Xbox Companion.
If you don’t find it there, In that case, your only option is to stream any cloud-compatible Game Pass titles straight from an Xbox console using Xbox Remote Play. Microsoft has got you covered with Remote Play, which lets you cast games from an Xbox right to a phone, tablet, or PC game.
Remote Play does not require an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, but you will need a compatible controller. It should be noted this is not the same as Xbox Cloud Gaming (also known as xCloud), which streams games from Microsoft’s own servers to your device. Thanks to the remote and cloud options, you can access the game titles with ease via either Xbox Cloud Gaming or Remote Play on the Xbox One. Xbox Remote Play gives you more options as well and works on all Windows computers.
Naturally, you could conclude that Xbox Play Anywhere is supported only on Windows 10 PCs, and that is only on the consoles that have Xbox One games running Windows 10 Anniversary Update. It seems to have been a bit of an obscure point to a lot of people that the XPA titles are playable on Windows 10 PCs as well, but Microsofts Xbox head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg, has clarified that Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to play Play Anywhere titles on PC, too.
