Microsoft hints at ‘more affordable’ Xbox Cloud Gaming plan

Two years ago we learned, thanks to the FTC, that Microsoft was working on a separate “dedicated” version of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft Gaming CFO Tim Stuart then hinted, a few months later, that there could be a free version Xbox Cloud Gaming in exchange for ads. Now, Microsoft is hinting at making Xbox Cloud Gaming “more affordable” again.

Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s VP of Next Generation, has appeared on the company’s official Xbox podcast today, to discuss Xbox Cloud Gaming, Xbox Play Anywhere, and Microsoft’s next-gen chip partnership with AMD. At the moment Xbox Cloud Gaming is only part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, meaning you have to pay $19.99 a month to get access to xCloud.

“One of the things we see is there’s a lot of players who use Game Pass Ultimate to access the cloud, whether that’s the primary way they play, or an additional way to play on the go,” says Ronald. “I think for us, it really opens up the opportunity to make it much more affordable, and make it more accessible to players. Whether that’s going into new regions, or new ways to actually access the [Xbox] cloud.”

Microsoft’s hints of a more affordable version of Xbox Cloud Gaming come just hours before Nvidia has some “major” GeForce Now news. Nvidia’s cloud gaming service is far superior to Xbox Cloud Gaming, thanks to PC-powered performance, better bitrates, higher resolution gameplay, and lower latency. Microsoft has even integrated GeForce Now into its own Xbox game pages.

Ronald stops short of announcing a new Xbox Cloud Gaming tier, but it’s clear that’s been Microsoft’s thinking for a few years now. Microsoft started expanding Xbox Cloud Gaming beyond just the Game Pass library last year, with the ability to stream games you own as long as you’re an Ultimate subscriber.

There’s an opportunity to bring that Ultimate paywall down, especially for mobile streaming. Microsoft had planned to sell games directly in its Xbox app for Android and allow customers to immediately stream those games directly to their phones and tablets, but a legal battle has put those plans on hold.

Microsoft is currently preparing the next generation of Xbox Cloud Gaming, alongside its next-gen Xbox console work. “Together with AMD, we’re designing dedicated silicon and hardware to enable the next generation of gaming experiences,” says Ronald. “We’re investing deeply in the next generation of rendering technologies, such as neural rendering, which will bring a new level of quality to the games that you’re having.”

That next generation of Xbox hardware will likely see Xbox and Windows move even closer together, alongside the choice of different stores for Xbox owners. It’s also an opportunity for Microsoft to bring more AI-powered features to the next Xbox.

“We’re also investing in dedicated silicon to enable the next generation of AI capabilities, that will be transformative in how you actually experience your gameplay,” says Ronald. Microsoft will “start experimenting” with some of these AI-powered features on the upcoming Xbox Ally X device, because it has a dedicated NPU chip just like Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PCs.