Xbox launches free streaming service with no Xbox Game Pass required

Xbox has launched a new service that’ll let you stream hundreds of games for free, no Xbox Game Pass required.

It comes as part of Xbox’s rejuvenation plans, which were somewhat halted by all of the backlash from its latest round of layoffs.

Gamers rallied in defense of the affected studios, but the company won back some favour when it recently relaunched the backwards compatibility program for PC users.

Next, it’s shifting its focus to cloud-streaming with a new spin that’ll make it free for all Xbox owners, but with a catch.

The upcoming trial period will let you stream any supported games that you own without Xbox Game Pass, but ads will play at the start of your gameplay session.

Advertisements will apparently run for around two minutes, each time, before you can carry on with your gameplay. Sessions will last for a maximum of one hour, and it’s entirely optional. Cloud-streaming games through your Xbox Game Pass subscription will remain ad-free for the time being.

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The news was published on Xbox’s official website and was later shared by the likes of Jez Corden on X.

Reactions to the new feature have been a mixed bag, as many are worried about how it’ll develop in the future.

For instance, turquophone replied to Jez Corden’s post saying: “The problem is soon it wont be free, they’ll introduce ads to Premium and Ultimate tiers and ask us to buy Premium+ or Ultimate+ to remove ads. Similar to Prime or Disney.”

However delpoi had a more positive take, adding: “Seems everyone is missing the stream your own games part if I can access my library from the cloud then if am at a friend's house I can log in and we can play that's awesome options are always welcome.”

Free Xbox cloud-streaming places it a cut above PlayStation Plus

It’s still in the testing phase at the moment, but if done right, this new, free cloud-streaming feature could be a game-changer for Xbox.

PlayStation also supports cloud-streaming, but only through its own consoles like the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation Portal. In order to cloud-stream, you also need an active subscription to PlayStation Plus Premium, the most expensive tier of the service.

While nobody likes an interruptive advert, two minutes of ads in exchange for one hour of gameplay on any platform, for free, is a pretty sweet deal as long as it stays that way.

There’s every chance that our worst fears are realised, and this free service is just a way of pushing more people onto Xbox Game Pass as more ads are integrated.

Only time will tell, of course, but for now, this is shaping up to be another win for Xbox, and another advantage it’ll have over PlayStation when the new-gen consoles come out. As delpoi put it in the above tweet, more options are almost always welcome.