Microsoft has smartly sidestepped a lot of the problems that Google ran into where cloud gaming is concerned, because unlike Stadia, they’re not putting all their eggs in one basket. Even so, Xbox Cloud Gaming (or xCloud, as many still like to call it) is something that the company has been investing in heavily, and clearly, they intend to keep expanding it and bringing the streaming service to more people.
One way of doing that is by making it available on as many platforms as possible. To that end, Microsoft confirmed earlier this year that Xbox Cloud Gaming would be coming to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One this Holiday, and they’ve now announced that the service has launched for the consoles. This, of course, means that any and all games available on Xbox Game Pass can now be streamed on your console without having to worry about downloading them, as long as you have an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Notably, this also means that Xbox One owners can stream and play even the games that are natively available only on Xbox Series X/S, including the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator, The Medium, and more. For now, the service will be available on consoles in 25 regions, while Brazil will also be added to that list soon.
Earlier this year, Microsoft also upgraded Xbox Cloud Gaming’s server blades to Xbox Series X hardware, allowing for better performance and resolution for those streaming their games via the service.
Interestingly, earlier this year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer talked about wanting to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming even to rival platforms like PlayStation and Switch, though that remains a distant hope for now. Read more on that through here.