Microsoft revealed on Tuesday morning that the long-expected debut of its cloud gaming service on the Xbox family of consoles is set for this holiday season, following earlier releases of Xbox Cloud Gaming on PCs and mobile devices.
Console owners who subscribe to the Ultimate version of the Game Pass service will be able to play compatible games from that service almost immediately via Microsoft’s cloud servers. The feature will be assigned its own tab on the Xbox Game Pass’ console UI, indicating which games on the service are compatible with cloud play.
This lets you try out games with one button press, rather than having to wait for what can be a lengthy local installation, as well as play a game via the cloud while you’re waiting for it to install locally.
Xbox One users can also go through the cloud to play games, such as the most recent Microsoft Flight Simulator, that are otherwise locked to the Series X|S hardware. The processing power on your local Xbox doesn’t matter much when all it’s doing is transmitting your inputs back and forth between a remote Microsoft cloud server, so in theory, you can use the cloud to give your Xbox One a sort of virtual upgrade.
The advantages, which Microsoft was sure to hype up, all come down to immediacy. Playing a game off the cloud is as simple as pushing the start button, which brings the Game Pass that much closer to the “Netflix of games” analogue.
Want to try something new without having to wait on a download? Cloud Gaming. Want something to do while the download you started finishes? Cloud Gaming. Do you have a bunch of people over and you’re looking for something party-style to play right now? Cloud Gaming. It’s got a lot of personal utility.
Naturally, it also comes with the typical attendant downsides. Cloud games are notorious bandwidth hogs, roughly on par with streaming HD video. If your residential ISP has a data cap, playing games to completion on Xbox Cloud Gaming will make sure you reach it.
Xbox cloud games are capped at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second, similarly to the Xbox Series S. There are quite a few games, such as the aforementioned Microsoft Flight Simulator, that will be hamstrung by that. They’re running off their sense of visual spectacle to such a degree that a hard-capped cloud version is a profound misrepresentation of the overall experience.
It’s not available everywhere yet, either. At time of writing, Microsoft maintains a webpage to indicate which countries currently have access to which services via the Game Pass project. As the Game Pass at this point is essentially four services loosely bundled together, international users should keep an eye on this site to see which parts of the service are available in their country.
In short, and to go off of my experiences with the browser version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, this is great for trying a game, but if you plan to put any real time into a given title, you’re still better off with an old-fashioned local installation.
That goes double for anything with a significant online component, as even the fattest of internet pipes will have a hard time with maintaining a connection to both Microsoft’s cloud and a game’s server simultaneously. A good example here is Microsoft’s own State of Decay 2, which I found had just enough lag to be infuriating when I dialed into it via the cloud.
What this does do, despite its shortcomings, is continue to build on Microsoft’s current strategy in the gaming space. Earlier this summer, just before E3, Microsoft released a pre-recorded conference that discussed its gaming initiatives, where Xbox’s Phil Spencer referred to the Game Pass service as a “discovery engine.”
Even right now, where Xbox games on the Pass require a local installation, subscribers have been shown by Microsoft’s internal numbers to play 30% more genres and 40% more games. Theoretically, when you remove that installation process from the equation, so players don’t have to wait before jumping into something new, that should only improve those numbers.
That, in turn, illustrates Microsoft’s strategy in the ninth console generation. Sony is continuing to rely on its big library of exclusives, international appeal, and overwhelming lead in order to sell the PlayStation 5. Nintendo has its own tentpole franchises that keep it relevant, as well as a hammerlock on the portable market.
The appeal of Microsoft right now, in these months before the release of Halo Infinite, comes from how it’s filing the rough edges off of video gaming as a hobby. It’s easier and faster to explore new games via the Xbox ecosystem than it is on either the PS5 or Switch.
Once more big console exclusives start to filter onto the Xbox, from big third-party Microsoft acquisitions like Bethesda, that should add more than simple convenience to the platform. For right now, though, Microsoft’s primary argument on behalf of its console is simple ease of use on the consumer level, and it’s more compelling than I thought it would be.
Members of Microsoft’s Xbox Insider program will be able to help test Xbox Cloud Gaming this fall. Presumably, the results of that testing period will determine exactly when the service is rolled out to the general public.
Microsoft’s cloud gaming announcement came during its press conference at this year’s Gamescom. The show, traditionally held in late summer in Cologne, is typically the highest-attended gaming event of the year, as measured by physical attendance, and a calendar highlight for the European games industry. Naturally, due to COVID-related issues, this year’s show has switched to a virtual format.
Other big Xbox announcements at Gamescom included a longer look at Techland’s long-awaited zombie parkour game Dying Light 2: Stay Human, scheduled for release on Dec. 7; the announcement of a deal with Humble Games that will see 10 new indies heading to the Xbox Game Pass; several incoming updates for Microsoft Flight Simulator, including a racing mode and the addition of electric air taxis; and the reveal of a console version for Paradox’s grand strategy game Crusader Kings III.
One notable omission from the Gamescom presentation, however, was any further news about Halo Infinite, which is still scheduled for launch at the end of the year.
