Xbox has just announced a major change coming to its Cloud gaming service in the imminent future. As of November, Xbox users without an active Game Pass subscription will be able to pay for Cloud gaming sessions.
Introduced and tacked onto Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions in September 2020, Xbox’s Cloud gaming service lets players stream their personal or Game Pass library to any compatible device. For six years, this Game Pass benefit remained limitless, but just last month, Xbox announced that it was putting a time cap on Xbox’s Cloud service depending on the tier of Game Pass users were subscribed to. Now, Xbox has announced its plans to bring yet another major change to its Cloud gaming component.
Xbox Introduces Cloud Playtime
As of October 21, Xbox Insiders can test out a new Xbox feature called ‘Cloud Playtime.’ Essentially, this new system allows players to access Xbox Cloud gaming without an active Xbox Game Pass subscription, albeit for a monetary fee. For $3.99, users can get 10 hours of Xbox Cloud gaming. For $7.99, they’ll get 25 hours. And for $11.99, they’ll have access to Xbox Cloud gaming for 50 hours. It’s important to note that as users won’t have access to Xbox Game Pass, they’ll only be able to stream compatible games from their personal library.
Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.
Sign in to claim your place on
the leaderboard!
Purchasing one of these new Xbox Cloud Playtime packs will give players a totally ad-free experience that reportedly includes shorter wait times and high-quality streaming. This new Xbox Cloud feature is expected to leave testing and become available to all Xbox owners sometime in November, according to the Xbox Wire blog post announcing the feature. When this feature does roll out to the masses in November, it’s possible for certain elements to be a little different based on player feedback, such as the prices currently attached to the service.
Back in July, Xbox announced and rolled out a test for ad-supported Cloud gaming. During this ongoing test period, Xbox Insiders are able to stream games they own for free without an Xbox Game Pass subscription, though they need to watch an ad before the game boots up, and game sessions are limited to just one hour. But for that hour-long duration, gameplay itself is unchanged. It’s currently unclear when this ad-supported Cloud gaming option will be available to those outside of the Xbox Insiders program.
For those who want to join the Xbox Insiders program and try out these new Xbox Cloud features for themselves, they simply need to download the Xbox Insider Hub app on their Xbox console or Windows PC and sign up. Once registered, Xbox Insiders who test these new features are heavily encouraged to provide feedback on their experience via the Xbox Player Voice feedback portal.
