Microsoft revealed at Gamescom 2021 that cloud gaming is coming to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles during the 2021 holiday season, meaning the Xbox One can play some Series X/S games once the feature goes live. As can be expected, an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will be required to use cloud gaming on consoles.
Currently, Xbox cloud gaming can only be accessed on smart devices or by using a PC browser. It allows people with fast Internet speeds to stream games into devices that normally wouldn't be able to handle them. All that is required is a compatible smart device or PC, and a Bluetooth controller, and people can play games like Halo 5: Guardians on their phone. Microsoft has confirmed that third-party controllers like the PlayStation Dualshock 4 are compatible with Xbox cloud gaming, but there are also a number of games with touch controls, bypassing the need for a controller entirely.
Xbox's cloud gaming functionality is now coming to Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S at the end of the year. This was revealed during the Xbox event at Gamescom 2021, in a segment that can now be seen on the official Xbox website. The feature will be made available during the 2021 holiday season, but no specific rollout date for the consoles has been given. Cloud gaming will allow Xbox One consoles to play Xbox Series X/S games, eliminating the need for a new console for supported Xbox Game Pass titles for those with stable enough internet connections.
It might not seem as if Xbox Series X/S systems need cloud gaming, but there is one major benefit. Xbox Series X/S players who can stream games can do away with the need to download them onto their system, effectively bypassing the limitations of the consoles' internal storage drives. This means that, for example, people can skip the massive mandatory install size of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and just start playing it instantly. The Series S owners of the world will benefit from this even more, as the Xbox Series S's SSD storage capacity is half the size of the Xbox Series X's.
Microsoft is making a major push to get people subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, to the point where it seems to be more of a priority than the Xbox Series X/S themselves. The company has slowly expanded cloud gaming support to nearly every platform within its reach, which has likely proved helpful for those who haven't been able to acquire an Xbox Series X/S due to console shortages. The ability to play Xbox Series X/S games on Xbox One is a fascinating prospect, and it ties in well with Xbox's mantra that it wants its games in the hands of as many people as possible.
Sources: Xbox, Xbox/YouTube
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August 25, 2021 at 12:26AM
