Cloud Gaming: Microsoft plans to support streaming of Xbox game libraries next month. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company is preparing to test the ability to stream games you own that aren’t part of your existing Xbox Game Pass library.
As part of a long-term project known as Project Lapland within Microsoft, the software giant has been preparing its Xbox Cloud Gaming servers to support the streaming of thousands of games. I’m told that Microsoft will initially test its new Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming capabilities with Xbox Insiders in November before rolling it out to more Xbox users and more games.
The Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion comes in the same month that Microsoft plans to enable game purchases in its Xbox mobile app for Android in the US. Microsoft can do this thanks to a court ruling earlier this week that forces Google to stop charging Google Play billing for apps in the Play Store as of November 1.
Xbox president Sarah Bond announced yesterday that gamers will be able to “play and buy Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android” starting in November” Once Microsoft’s work on a full game library on Xbox Cloud Gaming is complete, you’ll be able to buy an Xbox game on Android and stream it to your device instantly.
Project xCloud was actually supposed to start streaming the game library in 2020. Microsoft then announced that it would support your game library on Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2022, but it never launched that year. From what I understand, the work was complicated by having to prepare the vital infrastructure for thousands of games, rather than the hundreds currently available via Xbox Game Pass. While thousands of games will soon be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming, I’ve heard that some publishers will be holding back certain games due to licensing requirements or agreements.
Microsoft is also working on a browser-based Xbox Mobile Store, which was originally scheduled to launch in July. The store will initially include deals and in-game items, but will later include first-party games. Microsoft said in August that testing for the web-based mobile store had begun and that “work is progressing well and we’ll report more on this in the future.”
