Summary
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Microsoft is reportedly planning major improvements to Xbox Cloud Gaming.
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The company is said to be working on supporting 4K games in addition to expanding the catalog of non-Game Pass titles that can be streamed.
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It is currently unclear when exactly these updates plan to arrive.
Microsoft is reportedly working on some major Xbox Cloud Gaming upgrades, including support for 4K streaming and playing more owned games, among other news. Such improvements would help increase the overall value of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offering, Microsoft's top tier subscription service and still the only way to access the company's cloud gaming platform.
Xbox Cloud Gaming was originally introduced as Project xCloud at E3 2018. The public preview version of the service launched in 2019, a year before the xCloud name was dropped in favor of the current moniker. Xbox Cloud Gaming became available to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in June 2021. Since then, the service has continuously received updates expanding its capabilities and performance.
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According to a new report from Jez Corden of Windows Central, even more upgrades are now on the horizon. The insider claims that Microsoft is currently working on bringing support for 4K and higher bitrate streaming to its service. The company is also said to be considering expanding the catalog of titles outside of Game Pass that can be played through Xbox Cloud Gaming. Support for streaming owned games originally launched in December 2024.
Microsoft is reportedly improving Xbox's cloud gaming infrastructure
Additionally, Corden reports that Microsoft is working to improve the Xbox Cloud Gaming infrastructure. To this end, the company is believed to have started allocating more chips to the service. Such a move suggests that Xbox Cloud Gaming is growing in popularity, prompting Microsoft to upgrade its server farms to keep up with consumer demand. For context, the streaming service relies on Xbox Series X's own blade servers to run games on Series S profiles – an architectural decision made to improve operational efficiency.
It is currently unclear when exactly Microsoft plans to introduce these alleged upgrades. Based on the company's experience so far, it is likely that all of these improvements will be rolled out to select users first and then gradually expand their reach. Such access is almost guaranteed for features such as 4K streaming, which necessarily require careful and gradual stress testing of the Xbox Cloud Gaming infrastructure before global launch. 4K gaming alone sounds like a significant upgrade to a service that has been limited to 1080p/60fps streaming since Project xCloud.
Improving Xbox Cloud Gaming is one way Microsoft is trying to fuel the growth of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. And while the company is naturally hoping to sell as many of its top-tier subscriptions as possible, it's rumored to be considering launching a cloud-only edition of Xbox Game Pass from at least summer 2024.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the top tier of Microsoft's flagship game subscription service, offering more than 100 game titles to play with a single purchase, making it one of the most compelling value propositions in the Xbox ecosystem to date.
