Forward-looking: We're days away from the first Xbox | Bethesda E3 conference, but Microsoft has already started to spill the beans about what Xbox Game Pass has in store for the future. From an Xbox TV app and game streaming hardware to multiple new features and optimizations to cloud gaming. Microsoft xCloud might soon become the go-to cloud gaming platform.
With the upcoming Xbox TV app, any Game Pass Ultimate subscriber will be able to play their favorite Xbox Games on a TV without any additional hardware besides a controller. In case your TV doesn't receive support for the app, Microsoft is also planning to launch streaming hardware devices.
Phil Spencer, EVP of gaming at Microsoft, had already teased Xbox streaming hardware devices last year. This hardware will likely materialize in the form of USB sticks or small set-top-box devices, providing gamers with a compact xCloud gaming solution without the need of owning a console.
Microsoft says that all Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have access to cloud gaming on the browser in the next few weeks, while using Edge, Chrome, and Safari. The announcement comes just two months after Microsoft launched a beta phase, which also brought xCloud to Apple devices.
According to Microsoft, gamers will soon benefit from shorter load times, improved frame rates and better visuals in Xbox Series X|S optimized games, as the company is close to finishing the update process of its data centers, which will now feature Xbox Series X level hardware.
Later this year, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico, will have access to cloud gaming. Moreover, Microsoft also plans to introduce cloud gaming into the Xbox app on PC, which will allow users to try a game before downloading it.
A release date has not been set for the TV Xbox app yet, nor a list of TVs that will support it, but we're bound to learn that soon.