Xbox is bringing its cloud-based game service to more platforms. The still-in-beta Xbox Cloud Gaming program is launching on Windows 10, iOS, and iPadOS tomorrow, though it (like many other cloud services headed to iOS) is doing so via a web app on that trio of platforms rather than a standalone Xbox Cloud Gaming app.
The company announced via a blog that invites will start rolling out to select Game Pass Ultimate members tomorrow, allowing those that sign up to play 100+ games from Xbox Game Pass through a web browser on either their PC, iPhone, or iPad.
Xbox head Phil Spencer angles this expansion of Xbox Cloud Gaming as an added avenue for players to try and discover new games on Xbox. In a series of tweets and replies, Spencer makes the case that the overlap between Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming provides players with more options to explore and get to know the Xbox library.
“It’s a really great scenario. The platform is the games, how you decide to play your games is your choice,” reads one tweet from Spencer. “Game Pass is one option to give you access to the games and Cloud makes the games more accessible.”
“Browsing [the Xbox Game Pass] library, instantly trying a game and either keep playing in browser and/or download to continue on console or PC is a really nice discovery feature,” he explains in another. Spencer’s tweets also go on to note that allowing players to tap into Xbox Cloud Gaming via their Xbox console is still on the longer-term to-do list, as is bringing PC games to the service somewhere down the line.
This latest expansion of the limited beta, meanwhile, gives the Xbox team an opportunity to gauge feedback while slowly rolling out invites to more and more players, with the goal of improving the service and bringing it to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in the coming months.