By the report, Microsoft Xbox Cloud Gaming to launch in beta form on PC and iOS tomorrow.
The era of cloud gaming hadn’t arrived with the intensity that may have seemed imminent a couple of years ago when major tech platforms announced their plays. In 2021, the market is still pretty much nonexistent despite established presences from nearly all tech’s biggest players.
Microsoft Xbox cloud gaming is a lately join the party.
Microsoft has been slow to roll out its Xbox Cloud Gaming beta to its users widely across platforms. However, that’s likely because they know that, unlike other upstart platforms. There’s not a huge advantage to them rushing out the gate first.
This week, the company will begin rolling out the service on iOS and PC to Game Pass. Ultimate users, sending out invites to a limited number of users and scaling it up over time.
“The limited beta is our time to test and learn; We’ll send out more invites continuously to players in all 22 supported countries, evaluate feedback. Continue to improve the experience, and add support for more devices,” wrote Xbox’s Catherine Gluckstein in a blog post.
“We plan to iterate quickly and open up to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the coming months. So more people have the opportunity to play Xbox in all-new ways.”
Since last year, the service has been available in beta for Android users, but it’s been a slow expansion to other platforms outside that world.
This won’t be thrilling if you were hoping for a native app — Apple’s game streaming policy is partly to blame for that. It does significantly expand the reach of Microsoft’s cloud gaming service, though, and makes Game Pass Ultimate much more compelling if you want to play Xbox titles across multiple devices.
Read Microsoft new plans
The Bottom Line
Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming has been available on Android devices such as tablets and phones since 2020. The company was unable to bring the service to iOS initially due to Apple’s restrictions for App Store games, which — based on its terms of service — would require each game to be downloaded individually from the App Store. At the time, Microsoft referred to it as a “bad experience for consumers.”
To bypass this to make the service more consumer-friendly, Microsoft has implemented a way for Xbox Cloud Gaming to function on iOS via a browser. Those who have received invites can visit the Microsoft website to access the large list of Xbox Game Pass titles available with the Cloud Gaming beta.
It’s unclear how Microsoft is going about selecting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to participate in the beta, though the company stated that it will send out invites on a “continuous basis.”
[…] Kreme has now teamed up with Microsoft to create an Xbox-themed […]