Microsoft has announced a major new feature for the Xbox PC app – the ability for players to stream their own games directly through the app without having to make any extra downloads. The feature is completely free and doesn’t require the player to make any additional purchases or subscriptions, aside from buying the games themselves.
The feature is essentially an expansion to the company’s efforts at pushing Xbox Play Anywhere, which allows users to buy a game through the Microsoft Store to then be able to play it on any hardware capable of running the Xbox app, as well as Xbox consoles. Currently more than 250 games are available to be streamed through the game streaming feature on the Xbox PC app.
The feature was originally rolled out for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, allowing them to stream games they own on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles, as well as on TVs and Meta Quest headsets through the use of the Xbox app, along with on PCs and smartphones through browsers. Currently, the feature is available in the 28 countries where Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) is supported.
“These updates are part of a broader effort to make the Xbox experience on PC even better and bring more of what players love about Xbox into more places,” wrote Microsoft in its announcement. “Whether you’re streaming your own games, jumping back into the cloud, or earning rewards just for playing, it’s all about giving you more control, more flexibility, and more reasons to play your way.”
The list of supported games includes more than 250 titles that have already been available through Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), and also includes titles that aren’t already available through Game Pass. By making use of the feature, players can save time they would spend waiting for a game to download, as well as save on storage space by being able to simply stream the game they want to play.
The Xbox PC app has also gotten another update for members of the Xbox Insiders program. Those that are also subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate will have access to all cloud-playable games through the Xbox PC app. This includes console-only titles like those that were released on the original Xbox, all the way to more modern games. Xbox Insiders members now also have access to their play history across various devices that they might play Xbox games on, including consoles and Xbox PC.
The new feature is likely to be especially useful on lower-powered devices, such as the upcoming Asus ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X handheld gaming systems. While neither Microsoft nor Asus have confirmed a release date for the systems as of yet, recent rumours have indicated that pre-orders might start on August 20. Reports from last year have indicated that both systems will subsequently be launched in late October.
For more details about the upcoming handheld systems designed by Microsoft and Asus together, check out everything you might have missed from the original announcement, as well as an explanation for why they won’t feature OLED displays.
