Xbox Cloud Gaming beta rolling out for PC and iOS
Xbox Cloud Gaming is launching in limited beta on Chrome and Edge browsers for Windows 10 PCs and the Safari browser for Apple mobile phones and tablets from tomorrow.
In a statement on the Xbox blog, Catherine Gluckstein, vice president and head of product for Project xCloud, confirmed that Xbox Cloud Gaming is hitting more platforms on April 20, allowing select users signed up to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to demo the streaming tech on new platforms.
"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," said Gluckstein.
"We’re launching xbox.com/play where invitees can play over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles through Edge, Google Chrome, or Safari. Offering cloud gaming through the browser and having a simplified, universal landing page presents a great opportunity to make cloud gaming approachable to more players in more places over time."
If you're lucky enough to be invited, you'll be pleased to learn that the service supports Bluetooth and USB-connected controllers, even via browser, no matter what platform you're playing on. Microsoft also noted that over 50 titles have custom touch controls – something the company has been working on for a while.
These invites will be sent out to the same 22 countries that Xbox Game Pass is already available in, and there's no mention of wider international support in this specific blog post.
We recently reported that Microsoft has been testing 1080p streaming for Xbox Game Pass cloud games – it's more than likely this kind of rollout is the reason why.
Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming launched in September in 22 countries with a selection of over 150 games. Our own Alex Donaldson was super impressed with xCloud when he first tried it.
"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," says the blog post, so expect a wider rollout in due course.