Microsoft’s head of Xbox Phil Spencer has announced that starting in September, Project xCloud will be unified with Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
In a blog post released today, Spencer reaffirmed Microsoft’s commitment to the player by outlining various initiatives the company has. This includes providing a consumer-friendly and safe ecosystem for players to enjoy and cutting technology being rolled out in the form of the next-generation Xbox Series X console. On top of that, Spencer has announced that starting in September, Microsoft game streaming service Project xCloud will be enrolled into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at “no additional cost”.
Spencer writes that in September Xbox Game Pass and xCloud game streaming will come together “in supported countries”. For the player, this means having access to the laundry list of over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles on a smartphone or tablet. This will include titles like the highly anticipated Halo Infinite, which is slated to release this holiday season. Plus, through Xbox Live, players will be able to play with their friends on Xbox or PC.
“Cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate means your games are no longer locked to the living room,” Spencer writes. Players will be able to pick up from where they left off when playing on console or PC while diving into Project xCloud.
Currently, Project xCloud’s beta is available in Canada, the US, UK, South Korea, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Project xCloud is available on both Android and iOS, albeit in a more limited capacity on iOS.
Additional player-first commitments outlined in the post include Microsoft’s Smart Delivery, enabling players to only purchase select titles once and have access to the best possible version no matter which Xbox console they are playing on. Xbox’s backwards compatibility ensures four generations of games will be available on Xbox Series X on day one.
Finally, the post also redefines what next-generation holds for Xbox and the Series X console. “Xbox Series X is designed to deliver a new level of fidelity, feel, performance and precision never seen before in console gaming. All games will look and play best on Xbox Series X,” Spencer writes. “With our custom next-generation SSD and Xbox Velocity Architecture, nearly every aspect of playing games is improved.”
Spencer closes out the post by encouraging readers to check out the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23rd, where Halo Infinite‘s campaign will be shown alongside other projects many of the 15 Xbox Game Studios are working on.
