Microsoft announced in November that it's expanding its Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta) capabilities and letting Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream some games they own to more devices. That means subscribers can stream 50 games, like Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, as long as they own a digital copy of the game and have a Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
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An XGPU subscription costs $20 a month, and gives you access to a catalog of over 500 games, as well as access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. This lets you play most games in the game catalog from a device without an Xbox console. Microsoft recently doubled down on this feature with its This Is an Xbox ad campaign, which showed people playing Xbox games on their phones, laptops and other devices via cloud gaming independent of a console.
"We believe gaming should be easy to access and available for all players, no matter what device you choose to play with," Microsoft said online Wednesday.
Here's how to stream any of the 50 supported Xbox games to a device without an Xbox console. Note, cloud gaming is dependent on a good internet connection so you probably won't be able to stream games from a busy library or cafe or while you're on public transit.
Streaming a game to your phone, tablet, PC and other devices
1. Open a compatible browser -- updated versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari are all compatible.
2. Go to xbox.com/play.
3. Tap or click the Sign In button -- across the top of the browser window -- and sign into your Game Pass Ultimate account.
4. Look for the Stream your own game carousel.
5. Click or tap Show All.
6. Choose the game you want to play.
If you own the game, you can click or tap Play and the game will load. You should connect a Bluetooth enabled controller to your device -- even if you're on a PC -- before you hit Play. All the games are optimized to work with controller inputs and won't work otherwise.
If you don't own the game, the Play button is replaced with a link to buy the game.
Once your game loads, it might take a few seconds to sync your saved data, but then you can play your game without your console.
Streaming games to your TV and VR headset
To stream games to a VR headset or your TV, you'll need the Xbox app or the Xbox Cloud Gaming app on your device. The Xbox app works on compatible Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire devices and the Xbox Cloud Gaming app works on the Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro, so this won't work on every TV or VR headset.
If you have a compatible device and the right app, you'll sign in to your Game Pass Ultimate account, click Show All in the Stream your own game carousel, choose the right game and hit Play. Again, you should probably connect a Bluetooth controller before hitting Play, otherwise you'll probably have a bad time.
Streaming games to your Xbox console
On Dec. 11, Microsoft announced that Xbox Insiders with Game Pass Ultimate can stream some of their owned games to their Xbox consoles. That means you can save time and hard drive space by booting games up from the cloud.
Games that are playable via the cloud will have a cloud badge. Select these games and then choose the option Play with Cloud Gaming.
What to know about cloud gaming
Cloud gaming is similar to watching a video on Netflix, in the sense that you're streaming the experience to your device, except in some cases you own the game. Since the game isn't stored on your device you don't need to worry about storage space or system requirements.
Because cloud gaming is dependent on your internet connection, you might experience some lag or latency issues when playing. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 on my iPhone, there were moments when there was a lot of action on the screen and my frame rate dropped. I was the only person home at the time so I imagine if someone else was home and playing another game or watching a video online my frame rate would have plummeted.
For more Xbox news, here's what to know about Game Pass Ultimate and the latest games on Game Pass. You can also check out how your mobile device will likely be the only gaming console you'll need soon.
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