Microsoft to launch xCloud streaming free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September

xCloud will get a new name and some bigger ambition

Microsoft is planning to launch its game streaming service, currently known as Project xCloud, free to its paying Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in September. The xCloud service will allow Xbox players to play games on mobile devices or even start a game on their consoles and resume it on their phone or tablet. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate combines Xbox Live access, an Xbox Game Pass subscription, and, starting in September, xCloud game streaming into a single $14.99 monthly subscription.

Microsoft is promising that more than 100 Xbox Game Pass titles will be playable on a phone or tablet when the streaming service launches. Microsoft isn’t detailing which countries will be supported at launch just yet, though. The company has been building out its Azure data centers across the US and in parts of Europe with Xbox One S blades to stream Xbox games through xCloud. Microsoft will upgrade these servers to Xbox Series X hardware in 2021.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be the only way to access xCloud streaming at launch, but it won’t always be limited to Microsoft’s top subscription tier.

“Over time we will continue to expand how we introduce streaming as part of the platform, and playing games that you own that aren’t part of the subscription,” says Microsoft’s Xbox chief Phil Spencer in an interview with The Verge. “For launch we’re putting it in Ultimate for no additional cost. We think it’s a good audience for us to start with, and it’s an audience that plays a lot of games.

While everyone accessing xCloud game streaming in September will do so through a phone or tablet, Microsoft isn’t detailing which devices will be supported just yet. The software maker has been involved in ongoing discussions with Apple over App Store policies that have prevented Microsoft from testing xCloud with the same features as the Android version. Microsoft started testing xCloud on iOS devices earlier this year, but the test has been limited to a single Halo game.

“We want to bring xCloud, eventually, to every screen that someone can stream games to. Right now we’re just saying mobile,” says Spencer. “There are discussions going on and we’re working through things. We’ll talk more specifically about which mobile devices through August and the September launch.”