Microsoft says cloud gaming on Xbox near

Microsoft has confirmed that cloud gaming is coming to its Xbox consoles during the forthcoming holiday season.

Cloud gaming, which will enable players with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription to play more than 100 games directly from the cloud while being able to move through those games seamlessly, will be available on the Xbox Series X, Series S and the Xbox One.

“It’s a way for console gamers to play some of their favourite games as quickly as possible, jump into games with friends more easily, and try out Xbox Game Pass titles before installing them,” the company said.

One of the key benefits to cloud gaming is that players will be able to access the Xbox Game Pass library of titles without having to download and install each one, consequently saving on the local storage space on their consoles. This also saves time due to the player’s ability to play the game without having to wait for the installation process to complete.

In addition, players will be able to quickly click through any invitation received for a multiplayer game and join their friends on a multiplayer campaign (Xbox highlighted the Sea of Thieves as a prime example) with minimal waiting time.

Xbox will be finalising their testing process for cloud gaming during the autumn, including beta testing through their Xbox Insider programme, so that the feature becomes fine-tuned before its official, full-scale release.

Microsoft has highlighted a few crucial technical details for players interested in cloud gaming. “To ensure the highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices, we will support up to 1080p and at 60fps just like Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) across PCs, phones and tablets,” Xbox explained.

Regarding the previously mentioned Sea of Thieves, Xbox detailed how the game has been updated to include features designed by developer Gearbox Software.

“Sea of Thieves surprised players with a stunning ship set designed in collaboration with the team over at Gearbox Software,” Xbox said.

“Pirates will be able to earn the full Mayhem ship set by taking part in the Making Mayhem event,” the company concluded.