The shake-ups at Xbox are continuing, but this time, there's the possibility of something free on the way, with an ad-supported tier of Xbox Cloud Gaming coming at no cost.
That's according to a report from The Verge on Friday, which claims that this tier is currently in testing internally at Microsoft. In its current iteration, this free Xbox Cloud has players watch two minutes of ads before having access to play for an hour, with up to five one-hour sessions available in a month.
Players using free Xbox Cloud will be limited to select games they already own, titles that are free to play during a particular weekend, and Retro Classics.
The report adds that Microsoft plans to announce a public beta soon before fully rolling the feature out, which lines up with how the company usually allows members of the Xbox Insider Program to test various features ahead of a full launch.
Windows Central can corroborate this report, with sources confirming that the system will have an ad come up while players are in the queue to play.
Back in July, executive editor Jez Corden wrote about how Microsoft was exploring cheaper tiers for Cloud gaming, with the possibility of a free tier that is supported by ads.
Xbox Cloud is now available across all Xbox Game Pass tiers, but...
"Stream Your Own Game," the feature that allows players to stream Xbox games they buy, rolled out late last year as a part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Initially launching with 50 games, it's grown rapidly, with newer titles like Gearbox Software's Borderlands 4 and even PlayStation Studios' Helldivers 2 supporting the feature.
As part of the recent Xbox Game Pass shake-up, Stream Your Own Game has been expanded (alongside Xbox Cloud support in general), bringing the feature to the Essential (formerly Core) and Premium (formerly Standard) tiers of the service at no extra cost.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still the best way to play, of course, providing 1440p streaming for titles where available, as well as the widest library for games that players don't already own.
Unfortunately, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was also subject to an enormous price hike, rising by 50% in the U.S. to $30 a month. There are other improvements meant to justify the increase, such as the inclusion of Ubisoft+ Classics titles, as well as the Fortnite Crew perk (which gives the Fortnite Battle Pass and some V-Bucks) that'll begin in November, but it's nonetheless been the center of a social media storm.
Personally, I'm pretty curious to see how many users end up trying out this free Xbox Cloud tier on a regular basis. From there, will the limitations on available games (as well as the time restrictions and presence of ads) push those players into subscribing to a paid Xbox Game Pass tier? It'll be interesting to watch it all unfold.
Elsewhere, I recently wrote about how what Microsoft is trying to do with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Fortnite actually does make sense, but the massive price hike means it isn't likely to work.
Subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and play day one Xbox games whichever way you'd like, on Xbox consoles, PC, or even through the Cloud on a wide range of devices. Going with this tier means you never miss out on anything coming to the service.
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