Xbox Game Streaming: The xCloud App for Windows Mounts | Xbox One

Since the beginning of the 2020 school year, xCloud has been officially available on many devices. Accessible mainly on Android mobiles, Xbox cloud games should be extended to PC, Smart TV and Apple devices in the future. In the case of the Apple brand, the deployment is more complicated than expected due to the rules imposed by the App Store. To solve this problem, Microsoft plans to offer a version of xCloud that can be accessed directly through our web browser. There is also an Xbox Game Streaming application for Windows PC and it has just been leaked pending an official announcement.

Xbox Series X and S games streaming to your PC soon

It is once again The Verge that leaks information about what Microsoft is preparing, without really knowing if all this is covered by the American firm or not. Less than two weeks after xCloud images via web browser, today we discovered the Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows PC.

While it was quite possible on Xbox One, today it is not possible to stream your Xbox games from the new Xbox Series X | S to a Windows PC with the Companion application. And this is, among other things, what this Xbox Game Streaming application will allow, in addition to bringing the xCloud service to Windows.

If you haven’t followed everything, which is easily understood given the complexity and number of different terms Microsoft uses, remember that xCloud is a cloud gaming service that allows you to play Xbox games without the need for a console, directly on your mobile. The service is only available to members of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft’s subscription gaming service.

The Verge now shares the Xbox Game Streaming App for Windows interface as it exists today in its trial version. We discovered without surprise that it is thus possible to play games that are on an Xbox Series X or Series S remotely from your PC, as the Companion application did on Xbox One.

Interestingly, there is now full touch support, allowing Surface or other touchscreen devices to play Xbox games without a controller, with the app reporting that it supports gyroscope. A resolution of 1080p would also be on the show, while xCloud is limited to 720p today.

First xCloud images via web browser

A little earlier this month, we were already discovering through the site The edge the first images of the service currently limited to Chromium browsers such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

Like the version available on Android, xCloud in the browser goes for a sleek look with immediate access to Xbox Game Pass games. Various recommendations as well as the list of recently released titles are present and you just have to connect a compatible bluetooth controller to play in full screen through the browser. As Tom Warren points out, we still have little information on technical details like resolution and frame rate of streaming video. As a reminder, xCloud will eventually offer Xbox Series X instead of the Xbox One S currently in use, allowing access to better versions of our favorite games.

Target iPhone and iPad

As we’ve already mentioned, Microsoft ran into App Store rules when it came to offering xCloud on iOS. The arrival of a solution through the browser will thus overcome this problem to allow as many people as possible to benefit from the service, regardless of the device.

For now, xCloud via the browser is still in the testing phase, but a first public preview is expected in the spring. Of course, we will keep an eye out for the smallest details like the arrival of new ways to play Xbox Game Pass games.

Learn all about streaming Xbox games with xCloud