Yesterday, Microsoft announced a big round of updates regarding the future of its gaming strategy, giving us more details on its upcoming Xbox Series X and backward compatibility. The company also gave some attention to its cross-platform Stadia competitor, xCloud. After extensive beta testing, the service will launch in September, but it will be limited to the existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which costs $15 a month.
In the beginning, you’ll have access to more than 100 Xbox Game Pass titles, which Microsoft streams to your phone or tablet. Since the service runs on Xbox servers, you’ll be able to join millions of gamers playing these games on their consoles, so it won’t be as desolate as Stadia.
Microsoft’s Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed to The Verge that Game Pass Ultimate won’t remain the only way to access the streaming service: “Over time we will continue to expand how we introduce streaming as part of the platform, and playing games that you own that aren’t part of the subscription. For launch we’re putting it in Ultimate for no additional cost. We think it’s a good audience for us to start with, and it’s an audience that plays a lot of games.”
Previously, the publication also reported that Microsoft would upgrade its xCloud servers to Xbox Series X hardware next year, which might be a good moment to introduce more broad availability.
