After several months of limited beta testing, Microsoft today is officially launching the public and open beta of its new Xbox Cloud Gaming Platform. This includes support in Safari on iPhone and iPad for playing a subset of Xbox Game Pass games by streaming them from the cloud.
Xbox Game Pass Streaming Machines
As first announced in an Xbox blog post, Microsoft has officially debuted its new Xbox web interface for accessing the public beta of Xbox Cloud Gaming. The website touts that you can play “over 100 high-quality console games” directly in your browser with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and a compatible controller.
Starting today, Xbox Cloud Gaming is available to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members with Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets, via browser, across 22 countries. If you’re a member or want to become a member, simply go to xbox.com/play on Microsoft Edge, Chrome, or Safari on your PC or mobile device to start playing hundreds of games from the Xbox Game Pass library.
If you have a late-2020 MacBook Air/13' MacBook Pro with a M1 Apple Silicon processor, you can run any iPhone/iPad app you want. Game streaming works flawlessly on my MacBook Air! Fullscreen is available by the way, does not have to run windowed. Follow these steps. Once again, the latest game streaming news puts Stadia at a disadvantage. Microsoft said very casually that their Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming would be available via web browsers in the coming weeks. This also includes Safari, which will serve as Xbox Gaming’s entry point into iPhones and iPads, something Stadia has yet to do. Going forward, anyone who subscribes to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate—the premium tier of Microsoft’s games-on-demand service —can stream dozens of games to a number of non-Xbox devices. Microsoft's 'Project xCloud' streaming game service that pairs with its Xbox Game Pass won't be available on iPhone and iPad when it launches this September, and Apple's App Store restrictions are.
How To Download Xbox App On Mac
Microsoft says that cloud gaming on Xbox.com is supported on iPhone and iPad devices running iOS 14.4 or higher. Other requirements include a 10Mbps minimum internet connection and a Bluetooth or USB controller. The company also touts improvements to the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience:
We’re also making significant improvements to the overall experience: Xbox Cloud Gaming is now powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware. We’ve been upgrading Microsoft datacenters around the globe with the fastest, most powerful Xbox hardware to give you faster load times, improved frame rates, and an experience of a new generation of gaming. To ensure the lowest latency, highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices, we will be streaming at 1080p and up to 60fps.
An Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will run you $14.99 per month, but you can get your first three months for $1 as part of a limited-time promotion. As our colleagues over at 9to5Google note, support for browsers and iOS devices means the service now matches Google Stadia.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More.