Xbox Cloud Gaming’s Hourly Usage Skyrockets to 1,800% in the Last Year

Xbox Cloud Gaming has become another core pillar of the Xbox ecosystem. As with consoles and PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming is another avenue for players to get their hands on the games they love. In an update from Xbox to the community, the company discusses the new milestones this initiative has hit in the past year.

Catherine Gluckstein, Xbox Cloud Gaming’s head of product, addresses the hourly usage of Xbox Cloud Gaming in the past year. Gluckstein confirms that usage has increased by 1,800 percent. “I was looking at some of our data,” Gluckstein said. “Our hours are up more than 1,800% since this time last year. That’s an awful lot of gameplay.”

The scaling and increase in usage of Xbox Cloud Gaming can likely be attributed to a number of variables. For instance, in the past year, Microsoft has expanded the number of devices that support Xbox Cloud Gaming. Currently, Xbox Cloud Gaming is available on Android, iOS, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. Recently, Microsoft partnered with Samsung to bring its Xbox Cloud Gaming to select smart TVs.

Another contributing factor is the library offered. For the uninitiated, Xbox Cloud Gaming is a perk for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. On top of gaining access to titles like Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Sea of Thieves, Among Us, and over 100 other titles, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate enables cloud gaming. In Canada, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is available for $16.99/month. Each month, additional titles join Microsoft’s gaming subscription. A game that likely drew a lot of attention was Fortnite’s introduction as the first free-to-play game of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft partnered with Epic to not only launch it on Xbox Cloud Gaming but to bring it back to Apple devices.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that over 10 million players have played a game on Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft continues to grow the reach of this pillar by launching it in new regions consistently. Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) recently came to Argentina and New Zealand in June.