Following on from the recent news that the Game Pass subscription service has undergone a drastic price increase in some areas, a fresh story has hit the airwaves. It has been claimed that Microsoft is readying a free Xbox Cloud Gaming platform that’s supported by ads and can be used without a Game Pass subscription.
It has been suggested that users will be able to stream the games that they own digitally, eligible Free Play Days games, and Xbox Retro Classics titles.
Free Xbox Cloud, But There Are Catches
In a report from The Verge’s Tom Warren, it was claimed that sources close to Microsoft have started trialling a free Xbox Cloud Gaming service, devoid of a subscription and supported by ad revenue.
Sources tell me the internal testing includes around two minutes of preroll ads before a game is available to stream for free through Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft is also currently testing a limit of one hour for sessions, with up to five hours free a month. These limits may well change when the service is officially launched.
The caveats are front and centre and pretty sizeable, but free is free, right?
Recently, the internet was up in arms over a monumental price increase that took Game Pass Ultimate to a whopping $29.99, and even though Microsoft has bundled the Ultimate tier with more content and benefits, gamers were cancelling their subscriptions en masse as a response.
Tom Warren’s report goes on to mention that the purported free Xbox Cloud service will be available on PC, Xbox, handheld devices, and via the web, and that a public beta test is set to hit soon.
This cloud-based news is a compounding of recent revelations that Xbox Cloud Gaming has come out of beta after six years in testing.
Do you think this is a step in the right direction for Microsoft, or is it still not enough? Let me know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Netflix wants a gen-AI director for gaming
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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They should buy Take Two that’s what they need