Between announcing a price hike for Game Pass Ultimate and changing its plans to ensure that Premium subscribers don’t get day one access to Xbox-published titles, Microsoft isn’t exactly faring all that well lately. While every tier now benefits from Xbox Cloud Gaming, a free tier is allegedly incoming.
The Verge’s Tom Warren reports that this tier allows accessing certain owned titles without a Game Pass subscription, including those available via Free Play Days and Xbox Retro Classics. However, it will feature ads, with sources reporting two minutes of pre-roll ads following a recent test. While there’s currently no limit, Microsoft is allegedly experimenting with offering five hours free monthly and allowing one hour per session.
The plan is to launch this free Xbox Cloud Gaming tier through a public beta with a full launch supposedly coming months later. Alongside supporting PC, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, it will apparently be available for web browsers and handheld devices. As always, stay tuned for a proper announcement in the meantime.
