Microsoft To Test Xbox Cloud Gaming On Mobile Devices
Xbox released an update to its cloud gaming service and added more devices for players to access cloud gaming content. Starting April 20, the company will send invitations to select Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to access Windows 10 PCs, Apple phones, and tablets. The company also launched Xbox.com Play Anywhere, which gives beta testers access to over 100 Xbox game titles on Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Safari.
Our mission at Xbox is to enable you to play the games you want, with the people you want and when you want. Simply put, we believe that games have the power to connect humanity, and our mission is to make games accessible to people all over the world. As we shared late last year, we’re bringing the Xbox to more players on more devices and in the cloud this year.
Microsoft has outlined its plans to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming, its streaming service for Xbox games, to iOS devices and Windows 10 PCs. This marks the first major expansion of Xbox Cloud Games to Android and iOS devices, allowing access to Cloud Game titles on more devices. The service will initially launch as a closed beta, accessible only through an invitational-only program.
If you prefer a PC-centric approach to playing games in the cloud, give Nvidia’s rival GeForce Now a long, hard look. If you are considering blocking it to stream games to a computer, you may want to wait until Microsoft opens PC streaming to all newcomers. Remember that Xbox Cloud Gaming revolves around Microsoft’s console library. The arrival of Cloud Gaming on PCs is why PC gamers subscribe to the more expensive Game Pass Ultimate, even if they already own a console.
But Microsoft and Apple encountered a problem: Apple wanted all games available through the streaming service to be listed on the App Store. Microsoft wanted to develop a single app that would give everyone access to all games.
Microsoft noted that cloud gaming on iOS and the Web is currently in beta, but no further details were given. This is different from the app currently available, which allows owners of consoles to stream games to their personal consoles.
It seems that the Xbox boss was referring to the xCloud aspect of Game Pass rather than a native port.
We’ve already reported that Microsoft will test 1080p streaming for Game Pass cloud games, but it’s more of a rollout than anything else for this reason. Our own Alex Donaldson was impressed with iCloud when he tried it out. Game Pass launches on September 22 in some countries with a selection of 150 games.
Xbox Cloud Gaming will launch today (April 20) on PCs without gaming and Apple mobile devices and will include more than 100 playable games.