Xbox Cloud Gaming performance could level up soon
Earlier this month, a US court ruled that Google has a monopoly on Android devices with its Google Play Store, ordering the company to open its store to competition for three years. This will allow third-party app stores to be distributed on the platform without having to use Google Play Billing. While Google could yet get the ruling overturned or frozen, Xbox president Sarah Bond wasted no time announcing that on November 1, players in the US will be able to “play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android.”
The news was followed by multiple reports that Microsoft would soon allow players to stream their owned Xbox games via Xbox Cloud Gaming, suggesting that the long-awaited feature will roll out to Xbox Insider in November. The feature will apparently roll out on Android devices in the US via the Xbox App initially, but players in other Cloud Gaming-supported regions might be able to access it via the services web-based version on Xbox.com
Now, it sounds like even more could be on the way for Microsoft’s streaming service. As reported by The Verge’s Tom Warren in the latest edition of Notepad, Microsoft is working to improve Xbox Cloud Gaming’s bitrates. Additionally, The Verge comments on an earlier report from the developer of Better xCloud, who supposedly found references to a new cloud gaming-focused controller and a feature called Xbox Together that would you to hang out and play games with friends in a browser. According to Warren, Xbox Together was just a project made for Microsoft’s in-house hackathon event that we’ll probably never see. As for the new controller functionality, Warren says Microsoft is “actively” working on direct-to-cloud controller support, although there is no mention of when it could arrive.
Do you use Xbox Cloud Gaming to play some of the best Game Pass games? Drop a comment below and let us know!
