Microsoft is beginning to roll out the ability to play games via Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One or Xbox Series X / S consoles, Microsoft announced Wednesday. The feature requires a Game Pass Ultimate subscription and will be available in 25 regions “with Brazil coming soon,” according to Microsoft. But you might not have access to the feature right away, as Microsoft says it will roll out first “with our November release to a subset of Xbox gamers” and to everyone in supported markets “over the coming weeks.”
Cloud gaming on Xbox consoles could have a number of useful applications. You can use it to try or demo games available on Game Pass without having to fully download them. If a friend sends you a multiplayer invite for a game you don’t have installed, Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you stream the game so you can jump right in.
And if you have an Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming will actually let you play some next-gen exclusive games like like Recompile, The Medium, and The Riftbreaker on your last-gen console. Microsoft Flight Simulator isn’t available yet, but Microsoft says it will be added to its cloud game library in early 2022.
Xbox Cloud Gaming (formerly Project xCloud) arrived on iOS and PC in an invite-only beta in April before a wider expansion to all Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in June. Xbox Cloud Gaming integration on consoles first rolled out to Xbox Insiders in September.
The news of Xbox Cloud Gaming on consoles arrives during a busy week for Microsoft. On Monday, the company surprise-launched Halo Infinite multiplayer, added 76 new games to its backward compatibility library, and brought FPS Boost to some Cloud Gaming titles and more Xbox Series X / S titles.
