One hour chunks, with five hours a month, reportedly…
Free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming looks to be planned for release by Microsoft sometime this year, as mentions of the tier are already finding their way into the Xbox PC app.
As reported by The Verge’s Tom Warren, a new tooltip reading “1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session” has found its way onto the Xbox PC app, on screen as Xbox Cloud Streaming fires itself up. According to Warren, this aligns with his previous reporting; Microsoft internal testing limits the free, ad-supported feature to one hour per session. Warren also reports that Microsoft is planning to let users take advantage of five total hours of this free tier per month.
Warren continues to state that Microsoft’s internal testing will show two minutes of preroll ads before Xbox Cloud Streaming can be accessed; users will be able to stream their owned games, alongside a selection of additional titles.
A change-up to Xbox Game Pass tiers last October saw Xbox Cloud Streaming moving from a benefit on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to one on every level, though the highest tier does offer higher bitrates and up to 1440p streaming.
While a release date for this tier hasn’t been announced — Microsoft is keeping relatively quiet about it for now — Warren says it’s due “in the coming weeks”.
We’ll let know when Xbox Cloud Streaming heads to non-Xbox Game Pass subscribers, albeit at the price of preroll ads.
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