Everything except your console or PC can be an Xbox for 5-15 hours a month.
Xbox plans to change how its Xbox cloud gaming feature works starting in November, eliminating unlimited streaming for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. The change gives all three Game Pass tiers a certain number of hours per month and gives everyone the option to purchase hours of cloud gaming time through the Xbox Store.
Under the new plan, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will get 15 hours of streaming per month, Game Pass Premium members will get 10 hours of streaming per month, and Game Pass Essential subscribers will get five hours of streaming per month. Xbox says the change is only expected to affect four percent of Game Pass subscribers, which is perhaps indicative of how many people were streaming games, but it’s still a significant change considering a $23 per month Ultimate plan used to give you unlimited game streaming.
One of the positive points of this new approach is that cloud gaming is no longer limited to Game Pass subscribers. Now anyone can purchase “Cloud Gaming Hours” through the Xbox Store and stream their Xbox library. As the announcement notes, even Xbox One owners could theoretically stream eligible Xbox Series X/S games without having to upgrade to new hardware, a welcome alternative to purchasing increasingly expensive modern consoles. The deciding factor for this new setup will be the cost of those hours of play, which Xbox says will vary by market.
Xbox initially created Game Pass and expanded its cloud gaming capabilities because it imagined a world where you didn’t need a console to play games. That was the idea behind the brand’s unpopular (but not necessarily wrong) “This Is An Xbox” ad campaign. Under new CEO Asha Sharma, Xbox has moved away from those plans, lowering the price of its subscriptions slightly, reiterating its commitment to exclusive games and hardware, and laying off numerous employees. The great irony of the company’s current position is that the rising cost of RAM and the likely high price of its upcoming Project Helix line of consoles makes cloud gaming almost preferable to what comes next.
