Microsoft has announced big changes to Xbox cloud gaming, including a switch to monthly hour limits.
From November, Game Pass plans will include a set number of cloud gaming hours each month:
Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming monthly limits:
- Game Pass Ultimate: 15 hours
- Game Pass Premium: 10 hours
- Game Pass Essential: 5 hours
Once subscribers use their included hours, they can buy additional cloud playtime through the Xbox Store. Currently, Game Pass subscribers can stream without these monthly hour limits. The change means those who use cloud gaming most via Game Pass will end up having to pay more, although Microsoft said this impacts 4% of Game Pass subscribers.
Also in November, Microsoft said players will be able to buy cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and ‘stream eligible games they own on supported devices’ without subscribing to Game Pass.
In a blog post, Microsoft said it was making the changes because the cost of providing cloud gaming has grown as more people use it and play for longer. The monthly limits, Microsoft continued, will mean it can invest in reliability and performance. But it said it understood that for some players the practical result is a higher cost.
Expect more information on pricing, purchasing additional hours, eligible games, market availability, and how players can check their remaining time in November. Microsoft also said it’ll keep a close eye on feedback and may tweak the offering before the changes come in.
Cloud gaming has become an increasingly important part of the video game offering as the RAMpocalypse makes console gaming increasingly expensive. Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, recently predicted the video game industry will be in “commercial streaming mode” within three years — but for video game streaming to matter, it would have to run GTA 6 just as well as consoles do.
During an investor focused Q&A following the release of Take-Two’s latest financial report, Zelnick was asked for his thoughts on the video game industry as it buckles under the pressure of skyrocketing chip costs, which have forced Sony and Microsoft to raise the price of their consoles and potentially delay the launches of the PlayStation 6 and the next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix.
Zelnick admitted the rising cost of hardware “is not a good thing,” because cheaper hardware means more hardware in people’s hands, which is what software companies desire. But he suggested the advent of video game streaming would go a long way to tackling this problem.
Both Sony and Microsoft are predicted to lean heavily on streaming in the coming years as they contend with the RAMpocalypse. “I just don’t have any insight as to what the console manufacturers have planned, but it wouldn’t at all surprise me if part of what they plan is streaming,” Zelnick offered.
In the shorter term, GTA 6 launches in November and it is expected to boost console sales significantly. And there are a number of use cases with cloud gaming that could make it a popular option for those either without a current gen console, or who are priced out of buying one. For example, Xbox Cloud Gaming is used by some Xbox One owners to play current gen games. It’s also used by some PC gamers to play games that are beyond their current machines. Some people use cloud gaming to sample Game Pass games before installing — although this of course won’t apply to GTA 6. Others use cloud gaming to extend playtime in rooms in which they don’t have a console — perhaps they’re at work or away over a weekend. So, while Microsoft may say GTA 6 has nothing to do with the November changes to Xbox cloud gaming, it’s hard to see past the timing here.
As for the price of cloud gaming time, don’t expect a ‘pay as you go’ system — Microsoft will sell batches of hours, and those hours won’t expire. That means there’s no pressure to use your hours before they disappear.
In July, Microsoft launched a test for ad-supported Xbox game streaming, promising the ads wouldn’t interrupt gameplay. “For many players, the device they already own now allows them to stream games with Xbox,” Microsoft said at the time. “Cloud can also help Xbox One owners play newer games built for Xbox Series X|S without needing to purchase new hardware right away. That can be especially meaningful in places where consoles are harder to find or less affordable, giving more players another way to access great games on devices they already have.”
The test of ad-supported Xbox streaming arrived amid console price rises that are pushing some gaming hardware towards the $1,000 mark. In June, Microsoft announced significant price rises for Xbox consoles, blaming the ongoing “components crisis.”
“Last October, we increased Xbox console price by 20-70 in the U.S.,” Microsoft said at the time. “We hoped another price increase would not be necessary, and we have spent the last several months working with suppliers on options. Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.
“The entire consumer electronics industry is struggling with the current components crisis, but the effects are particularly hard on consoles. Unlike phones, computers, speakers, and other consumer devices, consoles are typically not sold at a profit, but instead for less than they cost to make.”
New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said the spiralling cost of new and existing consoles would require “radically different business models” over the coming generation. She added that the industry had “reached a point where it will be hard to imagine” mass audiences still being able to afford “thousands of dollars” for a new console generation.
The current PS5 and Xbox Series X and S generation of consoles have seen price increases rather than cost savings. Sony itself raised the price of PS5 consoles back in March, blaming “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.” Nintendo has also not been immune, and recently acknowledged it would up the price of Switch 2, just over a year after its arrival. And Valve has bemoaned its struggle to release Steam Machine at the price it had initially hoped, instead having to go for an eye-watering $1,049.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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