As of next month, Microsoft is allowing those who utilize Xbox Cloud Gaming to stream their own games. The company is doing this as a test, first and foremost, but this could be a game changer financially for their gaming department. It’s not an unknown secret that their gaming sector is under-performing compared to the other sectors within Microsoft. They are now trying to do everything in their power to remedy that, and it seems that allowing those to stream games that aren’t already a part of the Xbox Game Pass library using Xbox Cloud Gaming is part of that strategy.
This particular idea has been part of the long-term project known as Project Lapland inside Microsoft. They have been working on Xbox Cloud Gaming servers to make sure they are stable enough to support streaming thousands of different games, all varying in graphical fidelity and compatibility. It was already mentioned around seven months ago that this change would be coming, and it’s clear that they’ve been working on changes in Xbox Cloud Gaming, as they recently rolled out support for Mouse and Keyboard in a number of games.
The Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion will be happening in the same month that Microsoft plans to enable game purchases in the box mobile app for Android in the US after a lengthy court case that finally forced Google to stop requiring Google Play Billing for apps in the Play Store. This change is huge, and will be finally taking place on November 1. While to many, this may seem like an insignificant change, it means that third-party stores will finally be able to function on the Play Store, something that hasn’t been possible for years without managing your payments and subscriptions via Google Play Billing.
Xbox President Sarah Bond revealed that players will be able to play and purchase games from the Xbox App on Android. Microsoft is still ironing out the wrinkles, but once they are done, those who buy the game will be able to stream it to their device immediately.
This update has been in the works for a long time. Microsoft first announced this ground-breaking feature of playing your own library of games on Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2022. However, due to a number of complications within the company and the pandemic, it didn’t launch that year, and it’s only happening now, two years later. There will be thousands of games available through Xbox Cloud Gaming, but Tom Warren reports at The Verge that some publishers are holding specific games back due to licensing requirements or deals.
