Xbox Cloud Gaming Expands With 'Unlimited' Usage & Special Perks For Game Pass Members

As someone that never uses cloud gaming, and never will, all I can say is thank you Microsoft for increasing my subscription by more than 50%, whilst offering me nothing that I want in return. You're the best...

I don't know if they expect the number of Xbox Cloud players to skyrocket, but I've never had to wait to play in the cloud. I've always had the feeling that the number of players who have accepted the cloud as their usual way of playing is negligible.

@Gabrie get ready for artificial queueing to create demand for the higher tiers 👏

It's not going to be 1440p most of the time that's the absolute best in practice it will run hopefully about 1080p consistently at best!

@Fiendish-Beaver I'm glad about it, since there's a ton of stuff that I now have free. Yes, some people might be about as interested in the Ubisoft back catalogue as having a root canal, but it's one less subscription.

Next month, from what the infographic says, I'll never have to pay for a Fortnite Battle Pass again. Ever. Considering how much the damn things cost, that's a big win for me and a few people, and will encourage me to play the game again.

All the stuff we got today... for a relatively small increase in the price, that's the big point. Yes, you personally might not give a flying f--k, but the actual price of all the stuff they've given us... for the price of a single indie game... is worth it to quite a lot of people.

@ValentineMeikin it's cool that you see value in it but let's not pretend that including something that gives you Fortnite battle passes to jack up the prices isn't insidious.

How does that benefit gamers, developers, Xbox fans or the industry? Just because it benefits you in this instance, doesn't mean it's a good thing or worth it for a lot of people at all

I am still trying to figure it out.
Do I want to play ( most of ) the biggest games on release ? Yes
Do I want / have the slightest interest in all the cloud stuff ? NO , no , oh , did I say no ? I meant NOOOO !!
Neither subscription feels right for me now.

And a couple of days ago there was an article that said that they could not subsidize the Ally more … to get the most out of your new gadget you’ll need to have Ultimate. With the price of this ( almost mandatory ) sub I have the feeling there is still a little bit more room to play with.

What is this unlimited thing? I dont recall cloud gaming being capped before. I have always had Ultimate, but I dont recall any messaging being about there being time limits or anything like that.

Wasn't Cloud exclusive to Ultimate until now? At least until last year it was like that. Standard and Premium getting it for the same price is a huge bonus and makes sense if they want casual users using Cloud.

The major difference between, say, Geforce Now and XBOX Cloud Gaming is concerning game ownership. XBOX Cloud Gaming bakes into the service a guarantee that, for the basic service, not 'Stream Your Own Game', that every game is available without restriction.

Most streaming services have a secondary caveat that you need to prove, after launching, that you own the game before you start. The subscription only covers the costs of the servers.

XBOX Cloud Gaming, even at the Essential tier, uses your XBOX catalogue to tell you what you can and can't play. The ownership status is covered before the game even starts. And that's the big plus for Cloud Gaming. The onus is on Microsoft, not you, to check if you own what you want to play.

@Gabrie remember that MS will have done some market research on this. By upping their price by 50%, they have to assume that X amount of users will unsubscribe, but have assume that as long as X equals less than the amount of users needed to maintain their profit, they won't lose any profit at all.

The easiest way to test this is for one third of us to cancel our subscription. The Ubisoft+ stuff is sure to cost them a bucket and they'll take a financial hit. They don't care about breaking even. They want higher and higher profits. Don't give it to them. Save your money and buy a game rather than trying them out through game pass. What new games are going to be coming out soon anyways?

Stop promoting gamepass. You're jist making us more mad. Stop writing these types of articles. Stick with game releases. For me to scroll my feed and see this many Pure Xbox articles still promoting gamepass after Gamers said no to gamepass, is just an insult. Stop.