Microsoft will launch Project xCloud in September and the game steaming service will be available via its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Priced at $14.99/£10.99,XboxGame Pass Ultimate combines Xbox Live Gold membership with Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.
“This September, in supported countries, we’re bringing Xbox Game Pass andProject xCloudtogether at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members”, Xbox bossPhil Spencerwrote in ablogpublished on Thursday.
“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 whenHalo Infinitelaunches, you and your friends can play together and immerse yourselves in theHalouniverse as Master Chief—anywhere you go and across devices.”
Microsoftis reportedly planning toupgrade its xCloud servers to Xbox Series X hardware in 2021.
The cloud gaming service will launch powered byXbox OneS consoles in server blades, but next year’s upgrade to Series X will provide a significant performance boost, according toThe Verge.
This will reportedly include the ability to run four Xbox One S game sessions simultaneously and a video encoder that’s up to six times faster than the existing one.
Microsoft CEOSatya Nadellasaid in April thatxCloud had hundreds of thousands of usersin its current preview form.
At launch, xCloud is expected to let users stream Xbox games they already own from the cloud, as well as Xbox Game Pass titles.
Microsoft is also reportedly working on a feature that will also allow users tostream PC games across xCloud. In theory, it could let users streamPC gamesto their Xbox console and play them in the living room.
