It looks increasingly likely that you’ll soon be able to access Xbox Cloud Gaming for free by watching ads, Microsoft has confirmed.
The Verge dropped a report on the upcoming feature earlier this month, suggesting that the new plan will start public testing soon, with a full launch in the coming months. Writing about Xbox’s overall business plan following the news that Halo will soon be coming to PlayStation consoles, The New York Times delivered confirmation of the rumored ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier. “A Microsoft official confirmed that the company was also conducting internal tests for free ad-supported cloud access to some games through a program separate from Game Pass,” the New York Times article reads.
The original report from The Verge was more thorough on Microsoft’s plans for Xbox Cloud Gaming with ads, with the current version of the program being tested internally by Microsoft employees. In its current iteration, users can access some games they already own through cloud gaming, along with eligible Free Play Days games and Xbox Retro Classics games.
The current version of Xbox Cloud Gaming with ads shows around two minutes of preroll ads before users can stream a game for free, with a limit of one hour per session and up to five free hours per month. These parameters are liable to change when the program is released to the general public, however.
Xbox Cloud Gaming with ads is planned to be available on PC, Xbox consoles, handheld devices, and via web browsers. The current plan is for a wider public test of the program before it’s fully launched to consumers. Xbox’s existing cloud features are currently restricted to Game Pass subscribers.
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