Crystal ball: Microsoft's next big play in gaming may be free. With Xbox Cloud Gaming coming out of beta and Game Pass prices on the rise, the company is reportedly testing a no-cost, ad-supported tier that trades playtime for ads. If launched, it could open the Xbox ecosystem to millions of new players who don't own consoles, offering a small library of games and limited playtime each month in exchange for watching ads.
Sources have informed The Verge that a free, ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming is undergoing internal testing at Microsoft. A public beta is expected to begin soon, followed by a full launch in the coming months.
Players would be required to watch about two minutes of pre-roll ads before starting a session. Microsoft is currently testing a limit of one hour per session and five free hours per month, though these numbers could change before the official launch.
The available free titles would include some games players already own, along with selections from the Free Play Days and Retro Classics lists. Like the paid tiers, the free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming would be available across Xbox consoles, PCs, handheld devices, and browsers.
Microsoft's upcoming plan would likely compete with Nvidia GeForce Now's free tier. That service lets users stream games they own from a catalog of over 2,000 titles across Steam, Xbox, the Epic Games Store, GOG, Battle.net, the EA app, and Ubisoft Connect, offering one-hour sessions with ads shown while players wait in the access queue.
Xbox gaming CFO Tim Stuard first proposed an ad-supported cloud gaming tier in late 2023. While discussing the concept at a summit, he suggested that it could serve as a gateway in regions where consoles are less common, such as Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.
Microsoft likely hopes the new free tier will soften the blow of its recently announced Xbox Game Pass price increases. Although the company expanded the selection of games in its lower tiers, it also raised the price of PC Game Pass by 40% and Game Pass Ultimate by 50%, with the latter now costing $360 annually. Shortly after the announcement, the page handling cancellations for the service crashed.
The timing of these changes coincides with the cloud gaming service's exit from beta. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can now stream titles at resolutions up to 1440p. Over the past several months, Microsoft has significantly expanded its cloud gaming reach, bringing the service to TVs, and even cars.
Microsoft is testing free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier with time limits
