It was probably inevitable eventually, but Xbox Cloud Gaming is joining NVIDIA and other platforms in putting hourly limits on its streaming service.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is a platform tied to Xbox Game Pass right now, giving you unlimited access to stream games from Game Pass as well as hundreds upon hundreds of digital games you own. In fact, thanks to Xbox’s disc-to-digital program, you can now even play disc-based Xbox games you own if they’re included in Xbox Cloud Gaming.
DEAL: Get Surfshark VPN 86% OFF with Windows Central 🦈
Many users use Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox One to play current-gen Xbox Series X|S games that aren’t available natively on older systems. It’s also great for running games on laptops, tablets, and other devices that aren’t powerful enough to run said titles natively.
Up until now, Xbox Cloud Gaming was unlimited, but Microsoft just announced that it will begin introducing limits.
The new hourly cloud gaming limits via Xbox Game Pass
|
Xbox Game Pass Tier |
Features |
Resolution |
Price (US) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Essential |
5 hours per month, with 50+ games |
Up to ~1080p |
$9.99/mo |
|
Premium |
10 hours per month, with 200+ games |
Up to ~1080p |
$14.99/mo |
|
Ultimate |
15 hours per month, with 400+ games, and day-one Xbox titles |
Up to 1440p |
$22.99/mo |
“We recognize that introducing limits is a meaningful change, particularly for players who regularly spend more time gaming through the cloud,” Microsoft said on Xbox Wire. “We expect this upcoming change to impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. Once subscribers use their included hours, they will be able to purchase additional cloud playtime through the XBOX Store.”
I’m told that the “additional cloud playtime” bundles will not have a “use by” expiry window once purchased, although Microsoft hasn’t listed exactly how much these passes will cost as of yet.
Indeed, you will not need an Xbox Game Pass subscription to use these cloud playtime hours, which will grant you access to your own library of compatible Xbox Play Anywhere cloud games even if you don’t fancy owning the Game Pass subscription.
“We’re introducing this model because the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer,” Microsoft explained. “Moving to monthly limits allows us to keep offering the service while continuing to invest in its reliability and performance.”
“We understand that for some players the practical result is a higher cost. In November, we’ll provide more information about pricing, purchasing additional hours, eligible games, market availability, and how players can check their remaining time. We’ll listen closely to player feedback before and after the change takes effect and share any adjustments we make.”
The RAMpocalypse is coming for cloud gaming, too
Microsoft has been long-rumored to be exploring an ad-based tier for Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass in general. It’s also true that the video ads business is incredibly tough, making me wonder if Microsoft decided to opt for this approach instead of trying to compete with Google / YouTube for video ad slots.
Indeed, many recent reports suggest that Twitch, despite being absolutely rammed with ads, is nowhere near profitable. What prayer would an ad-based Xbox Cloud Gaming tier have, given the monstrous amount of bandwidth required for Xbox Cloud Gaming video encoding?
The RAMpocalypse is impacting consumer electronics prices, but also cloud server prices too. Microsoft has reportedly joined NVIDIA and Google in earmarking 70% of Samsung’s total DRAM output through to 2031. Unfortunately, I don’t think a significant chunk of that memory is going towards gaming.
One advantage Xbox Cloud Gaming probably does have (at least in terms of Microsoft corporate politics) is that it does help keep cloud inference up — which in turn helps Microsoft justify infrastructure capital expenditure to shareholders. Xbox Cloud Gaming servers, while idle (at night, for example), can be used for training AI models potentially, which helps anchor Xbox’s future in a corporation dominated by AI hype.
I suspect that introducing these limits now revolves around a plan to begin marketing Xbox Cloud Gaming more aggressively. If Microsoft ever did manage to find some form of mainstream breakthrough with Xbox Cloud Gaming, creating huge server queues (which we’ve seen in the past) wouldn’t exactly represent a positive first-time experience for new players.
If Microsoft’s goal is to form habits around Xbox Cloud Gaming in regions where console availability and affordability are low, ensuring a stable experience is obviously within their interests.
It remains to be seen if Xbox Cloud Gaming will ever be anything more than a niche kind of thing. It’s useful for testing out games without installing them, but in most scenarios where you might want to use it, i.e., on a plane, on hotel Wi-Fi, or on a long-distance commute … you’re probably not going to have good enough internet speeds.
The laws of physics and the speed of light preclude Xbox Cloud Gaming from seeing any significant improvements from here, probably, but the upcoming direct-to-Wi-Fi Xbox controllers should offer a meaningful latency boost — if they ever actually come out.
It’s a hot topic right now. With Xbox Helix and the PS6 threatening to be the most expensive consoles ever, perhaps even cloud gaming will end up too expensive to be worth it.
I’m tired of this AI stuff, mannnnnnnn.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
