Project xCloud will be available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers from September

If the future of gaming is in cloud streaming, it’s still a hard pill to swallow, with many a consumer being cautiously wary of the idea. It’s not hard to see why: Google Stadia, for all of its technological shortcomings, is still hamtrung by one key hurdle: It doesn’t have that many games to play that can’t be better experienced on a traditional console platform or PC.

Microsoft’s looking to change the perception of cloud gaming with Project xCloud, by doubling down on the library of games that’ll be available at launch and the technology behind it. The Xbox brand may have another ace up its sleeve with this ambitious plan: A far more palatable pricing model, as Project xCloud is being bundled in Xbox Game Pass for no extra charge at all.

“As we prepare for the next generation, our efforts to make gaming more inclusive, more immersive, more connected, and more social are as relevant and important as ever,” Xboss Phil Spencer said in a blog post.

Finally, today we’re announcing that this September, in supported countries, we’re bringing Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud together at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With cloud gaming in Game Pass Ultimate, you will be able to play over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles on your phone or tablet. And because Xbox Live connects across devices, you can play along with the nearly 100 million Xbox Live players around the world.

So when Halo Infinite launches, you and your friends can play together and immerse yourselves in the Halo universe as Master Chief—anywhere you go and across devices.

Further on in the post, Spencer also detailed how Xbox is looking to port pretty much every game that doesn’t require Kinect, to the Xbox Series X in the future. As for the first party future of Xbox? That’ll be shown off next week in a grand event, with Spencer also stressing that many of those games will also be playable on Xbox One:

We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios. That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years—like Halo Infinite—will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. We won’t force you to upgrade to Xbox Series X at launch to play Xbox exclusives.

Now that’s a ballsy approach to not only next-gen, but all generations of gaming.

Last Updated: July 16, 2020