After having to scrap its plan to offer an iOS app due to Apple’s App Store policies, Xbox is officially moving ahead with the web-based xCloud public beta for iOS. The release comes after an early preview last year that gave a first look at xCloud running on iPhone, iPad, and more.
XCloud may be able to run PC title, such as Age of Empires IV. It was the name of the public technology preview for cloud gaming that began in September 2019. Cloud Gaming Beta. That's how Microsoft refer to the service on his website. Xbox Game Streaming. Microsoft has started testing their Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming (formerly Project xCloud) service through a plain old web browser, The Verge reports. The closed beta is currently limited to Microsoft.
The first Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to start playing titles on iPhone, iPad, and PC tomorrow, April 20, via the web. Xbox announced the news in a blog post today (via The Verge). For now, xCloud for iOS and PC is an invite-only beta but it is a notable step forward after the early preview that Microsoft offered.
Starting tomorrow, if you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, you can check to see if you’ve been invited to public xCloud beta and access it for iOS and PC on Xbox’s landing page here.
Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin sending out invites to select Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to start testing the Xbox Cloud Gaming limited beta for Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets via web browsers.
While the early preview for iOS started with just Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the official public beta will feature access over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles.
The xCloud beta works with Safari, Chrome, and Edge. In testing back in February, my colleague Bradley Chambers found it truly felt like a beta with considerable lag, but found it impressive and convenient to play console games on iOS. All in all, it looks like xCloud for iOS has a lot of potential.
Microsoft says it will continue inviting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to the beta and open up xCloud on iOS and PC to all subscribers “in the coming months.”
While a compatible USB or Bluetooth controller is needed to play all available xCloud games, 50 titles will work with custom touch controls.
The limited beta is our time to test and learn; we’ll send out more invites on a continuous basis to players in all 22 supported countries, evaluate feedback, continue to improve the experience, and add support for more devices. Our plan is to iterate quickly and open up to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the coming months so more people have the opportunity to play Xbox in all-new ways.
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Microsoft had to abandon its original plans to let people play xCloud games on iPhones and iPads via an iOS app, the same way it does on Android (above photo), but is reportedly “very close” to a public preview of a web-based workaround.
The project shouldn’t be confused with the iOS Xbox app, which lets you stream games from your own Xbox to your phone. xCloud, in contrast, lets you stream games directly from Microsoft servers.
Microsoft employees are said to be testing the approach, with a public preview described as “very close” …
Background
Microsoft’s original plan was an iOS app, and it made a TestFlight version available almost a year ago to the day.
After debuting its Project xCloud streaming game service as a preview last fall on Android [above photo], Microsoft has today launched the preview for iOS via TestFlight. The iOS preview is limited to 10,000 testers with registrations open now […]
While the preview is limited to Halo: The Master Chief Collection Microsoft eventually plans to bring all 3,500+ Xbox games to the service in the years ahead.
We found that the app showed a lot of promise, but things came to a shuddering halt when Apple’s strict App Store policies meant it was no longer feasible. Apple wanted to be able to individually approve every one of the 3,500 games available through the service.
Microsoft expressed its displeasure at Apple’s stance, but didn’t give up. We first heard in October of last year that the company had instead started working on a web-based approach, in which games are played in a browser.
xCloud games on iPhones via web browser
The Verge confirms this, and says that the company is now “very close” to a public preview.
Microsoft has started testing its xCloud game streaming through a web browser. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s Xbox plans tell The Verge that employees are now testing a web version of xCloud ahead of a public preview. The service allows Xbox players to access their games through a browser, and opens up xCloud to work on devices like iPhones and iPads […]
Xbox Project Xcloud Iphone
The web version includes a simple launcher with recommendations for games, the ability to resume recently played titles, and access to all the cloud games available through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Once you launch a game it will run fullscreen, and you’ll need a controller to play Xbox games streamed through the browser […]
Microsoft is planning some form of public preview of xCloud via the web in the spring, and this wider internal testing signals that the preview is getting very close.
xCloud on the web currently requires a Chrome-based browser, but support for Safari is expected.
Xcloud Macos
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