Gamescom 2021: xCloud is coming to consoles this holiday

Gamescom 2021 is currently underway. Kicking things off is Microsoft, whose Xbox conference has featured many exciting announcements. One of these announcements has revealed that the console manufacturer’s xCloud game streaming service will be coming to consoles soon.

Making the announcement during Gamescom (and providing further information on their blog), Xbox revealed that “we’re bringing cloud gaming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One this holiday, enabling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play 100+ games right from the cloud and discover new games with the click of a button.”

Unlike mobile devices, which do not possess the hardware to natively play these Xbox games, the consoles do and so this decision may seem like an odd one. Explaining their mentality however, Jake Rosenberg, the Senior Program Manager at Xbox provided a number of examples for when this feature would prove to be useful, saying “With the ability to play games before you install, it’ll be easier than ever for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to:

• Discover and play over 100 high-quality games in the Xbox Game Pass library without having to use valuable storage space or wait for installs.
• Quickly jump into the fun with your friends in multiplayer games, like Sea of Thieves, as soon as you get the invite so you can set sail without waiting for an install.
• Play Gen 9-only Xbox games like Microsoft Flight Simulator and The Medium on your Xbox One via the cloud – coming in the future.”

xCloud for console will run at 1080p and 60fps (a good compromise between visual quality and bandwidth) and is set to launch “as part of our Xbox Insider program this fall.”

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KitGuru says: What do you think of xCloud? Will you try it? Has cloud gaming matured enough as a platform for you to use? Let us know down below.

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