How to play Balatro and more anywhere with Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft announced in November that it is expanding its Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta) capabilities and allowing Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to stream some of the games they own to more devices. That means subscribers can stream 50 games, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, as long as they own a digital copy of the game and have a Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
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An XGPU subscription costs $20 per monthand gives you access to a catalog of more than 500 games, as well as access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. This allows you to play most games in the games catalog from a device without an Xbox console. Microsoft recently doubled down on this feature with its This is an Xbox ad campaign, in which people played Xbox games on their phones, laptops and other devices via cloud gaming, independent of a console.
“We believe that gaming should be easily accessible and available to all players, no matter what device you play on,” Microsoft said this online on Wednesday.
Here’s how to stream any of the 50 supported Xbox games to a device without an Xbox console. Note: Cloud gaming relies on a good internet connection, so you probably won’t be able to stream games from a busy library or cafe or while on public transport.
Stream a game to your phone, tablet, PC and other devices
1. Open one compatible browser — updated versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari are all compatible.
2. Go to xbox.com/play.
3. Tap or click the Login – at the top of the browser window – and sign in to your Game Pass Ultimate account.
4. Search for the Stream your own game carousel.
5. Click or tap Show all.
6. Choose the game you want to play.
If you own the game, you can click or tap Play and the game loads. You’ll need to connect a Bluetooth controller to your device (even if you’re using a PC) before striking Play. All games are optimized to work with controller input and will not work otherwise.
If you don’t own the game, the Play button has been replaced with a link to purchase the game.
Once your game loads, it may take a few seconds to sync your save data, but then you can play your game without your console.
Stream games to your TV and VR headset
To stream games to a VR headset or your TV, you need the Xbox app or the Xbox Cloud Gaming app on your device. The Xbox app works on compatible Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire devices, and the Xbox Cloud Gaming app works on the Meta Quest 2, 3 and Pro, so this won’t work on every TV or VR headset.
If you have a compatible device and the correct app, sign in to your Game Pass Ultimate account and click Show all in the Stream your own game carousel, choose the right game and press Play. Again, you’ll probably need to connect a Bluetooth controller before hitting Play, otherwise you’ll probably have a bad time.
Stream games to your Xbox console
On December 11 Microsoft has announced that Xbox Insiders can stream some of their own games to their Xbox consoles with Game Pass Ultimate. That means you can save time and hard drive space by launching games from the cloud.
Games that can be played via the cloud will receive a cloud badge. Select these games and then choose the option Play with Cloud Gaming.
What you need to know about cloud gaming
Cloud gaming is similar to watching a video on Netflix in that you stream the experience to your device, except in some cases you own the game. Since the game is not stored on your device, you don’t have to worry about storage space or system requirements.
Because cloud gaming relies on your internet connection, you may experience lag or latency issues while playing. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 on my iPhone, there were times when there was a lot of on-screen action and my frame rate dropped. I was the only person home at the time, so I imagine if someone else was home playing another game or watching a video online, my frame rate would have plummeted.
For more Xbox news, find out what you need to know about Game Pass Ultimate and the latest games on Game Pass. You can also see how your mobile device will likely be the only gaming console you’ll need anytime soon.
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