Microsoft has been diving into cloud streaming games for a while, but today an Xbox Cloud Gaming beta is launching for Windows 10 PCs. This means that some paid Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be invited to a closed beta, where they can play games in their web browser, without having to download and install long beforehand.
Microsoft announced the launch of the beta earlier today. Invitees can play over 100 Xbox Game Pass games via Chrome, Safari or Microsoft’s own Edge browser.
This is a limited beta, so invites will be sent to players gradually as Microsoft collects feedback. They hope to open the service to all members in “the coming months”.
Cloud gaming has a stop-start history on PC, with plenty of services starting and closing almost as much without finding an audience. Shadow, which gave you access to a full PC in the cloud, was requested bankrupty last month; Nvidia’s GeForce Now service continues, although the price has recently doubled; and Google’s Stadia is also continuing, but has had a rocky start. (Hello to the Three Stadia who are about to try to convince me that their favorite service is actually doing great.)
The tech has a hard time finding an audience, in part because you need a good internet connection to stream games without input lag. But it is also likely because the people who want to play games on a big budget and who have heard of cloud gaming services are probably also people who already have good gaming PCs or consoles that they can play natively on.
Xbox Cloud Gaming may seem like it has a better chance than most as it’s added as a feature to a service, Xbox Game Pass, that people are already using and understanding.