What just happened? In the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed that Xbox users will be able to play their entire catalog of games in the cloud later in 2024. The confirmation came after a fan with the gamertag "NASburg" asked him when players can expect the cloud gaming feature to be finally available for all purchased titles, to which he replied, "[it] should be this year."
The feature was first announced by Microsoft back in 2019, when the cloud gaming service was still called xCloud. While the launch was originally expected to happen in 2020, the company only rolled out a half-baked xCloud service for the Game Pass library that year. However, now that it's finally all set to happen, it is great news for gamers who want to continue playing their purchased games in the cloud even if those titles are removed from Game Pass Ultimate.
While Spencer didn't offer any more details on the matter, the feature is expected to be part of the Xbox Cloud Gaming service that allows gamers access to hundreds of popular titles across several platforms, including the web, PCs, Android devices, and even some recent TVs. The basic Game Pass service starts at $9.99 per month in the US, but the cloud gaming feature will likely require an "Ultimate" tier membership, which costs a cool $16.99 a month.
Xbox Cloud Gaming has become increasingly popular in recent years, enabling gamers to play a large number of popular titles on remote hardware, without having to buy expensive gaming PCs or consoles. Some of the titles available as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership include Halo, Gears of War, Forza, Flight Simulator, etc.
Meanwhile, during the same episode, Spencer also confirmed that four current first-party games that are currently only available on Xbox and PC, will be coming to other consoles in the near future. While he did not specify the games, he did reveal that two of those titles are "kind of community-driven games," while the other two are smaller titles that were never designed to be exclusive to Xbox and PC. Hopefully, Microsoft will reveal more information on this sooner rather than later.