Xbox Game Pass coming to Android through xCloud on Sep 15
Microsoft has announced that Project xCloud, its long-gestating cloudgame streaming service, will finally launch as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September, in effect bringing Xbox Game Pass to Android phones.
xCloud will be bundled into the £10.99/$14.99 monthlyXbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptionfrom 15 September, and will allow players to stream games directly to Android phones and tablets.
At launch it’ll be an Android exclusive though, with no support for iPhones or iPads. That’s despite the fact that Microsoft has beentesting xCloud on iOS and iPadOS devices, and the company says that Apple’s App Store policies are the reason for the delay – though didn’t specify exactly which policies are the issue.
Unsurprisingly the Project xCloud branding is no longer anywhere to be seen. Instead this is billed simply as a new cloud gaming feature for Game Pass Ultimate, though interestingly it’s still officially a beta. This lines up with Microsoft’s recent efforts to push Game Pass as its dominant platform, even downplaying its upcomingXbox Series Xhardware at times as it emphasises the value of its subscription service.
It helps that most people won’t even have to buy a new controller for it. The service will work with Xbox One controllers and even Sony’s DualShock 4 gamepads, while dedicated portable gamepads from the likes of Razer, 8BitDo, and PowerA are nowavailable through Microsoft’s storefront.
The company also promises more news at tomorrow’sSamsung Galaxy Unpacked event, suggesting that rumours of an official tie-in with the upcomingNote 20 phonesmay well be true.
If you’re a current xCloud playtester, the bad news is that the current test of the service will end on 11 September, just a few days before the full launch on 15 September in 22 countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Microsoft says that when cloud streaming launches it will include more than 100 games, including Gears 5, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Sea of Thieves. The full list will be revealed on 15 September when it launches, but here are the 36 titles confirmed so far:
Author: Dominic Preston, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming.
