Xbox Cloud Gaming, stylized as XBOX Cloud Gaming, is a cloud gaming service as part of Xbox offered by the latter's division of Microsoft. Initially released in beta testing in November 2019, the service later launched for subscribers of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on September 15, 2020. Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming is provided to subscribers at no additional cost. Xbox Cloud Gaming operates by linking the device to a remote server in the cloud.
Development The ideas for the cloud service came within Microsoft around 2016, around the same time that Kareem Choudhry developed the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility for the Xbox One. As his team developed this solution, Choudhry also had the idea if they could provide these games without having need of a console, and got Spencer's go-ahead to start a small team to determine the feasibility of cloud gaming. The technology was deemed successful enough at around the time of Xbox Game Pass's introduction that Microsoft assembled a larger team to build up the cloud gaming platform.
Microsoft teased the service at E3 2018 and formally announced Project xCloud several months later, in October 2018. They demonstrated the service in March 2019 with the racing game Forza Horizon 4 playing on an Android smartphone with an Xbox One controller. Xbox head Phil Spencer used a private server during this time to test games on a remote connection. The service entered its home testing phase in May 2019, when it could be used outside the lab environment. It entered public testing later in the year and was unveiled at E3 2019.
Microsoft said that its Xbox content library will make its service more appealing than competitors such as Stadia. The hardware at launch used Xbox One S-based blade servers, but began to transition to Xbox Series X-based servers in June 2021. Each server initially had four customized Xbox One S-based units for the 2018 teaser, but this was doubled to eight per server in a 2U enclosure for the service's launch in 2019. Compared to the standard Xbox One S, power consumption has been reduced by 30% through processor-specific power tuning. Video output is set for 120 Hz to reduce latency.
Trials of the service began in October 2019, and as of November 2019, the service hosts 50 games, with support in testing for Apple Inc.'s iOS mobile devices, and for Sony Interactive Entertainment's DualShock controllers.
On February 12, 2020, Project xCloud launched in preview for iOS through a limited beta on TestFlight, with limited participation and support only for Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Microsoft released Xbox Cloud Gaming across 21 countries in North America and Europe, as well as in South Korea, on September 15, 2020, for select Android devices, with support for more than 150 games at launch.
Xbox Cloud Gaming was released in its beta form for Windows users on August 9, 2021, as a perk of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, though also required users to be registered in the Xbox Insider program. It was officially released as part of the Xbox app for Windows on September 14, 2021, along with Remote Play support from Xbox consoles to a Windows computer. Microsoft introduced a Clarity Boost feature for Windows users through the Edge browser that provides client-side visual improvements to the streamed content.
In October 2021, an Xbox Cloud Gaming client was released in beta for Xbox One via Xbox Insider. In November 2023, Meta Platforms announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming would be released as an app for Meta Quest VR headsets in December 2023. In June 2024, Microsoft announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming would become available on Amazon Fire TV Stick in July 2024.
Xbox Cloud Gaming officially exited beta on October 1, 2025 alongside a revamp of the Xbox Game Pass plan structure. On October 3, 2025, it was reported that Microsoft was also testing a free advertising-supported version of Cloud Gaming, limited to "some" of the games the user owns and a small rotating selection of free titles.
In September 2026, Microsoft announced usage limits for Xbox Cloud Gaming, with Game Pass Essential, Premium, and Ultimate limited to 5, 10, and 15 hours of play per-month; additional time must be purchased from Microsoft Store. Microsoft stated that the changes were required in order to cover the increasing costs of operating the Xbox Cloud Gaming service. It was also announced that users would also be able to "stream eligible games they own on supported devices" without a Game Pass subscription in the future.
Availability Xbox Cloud Gaming is available in 29 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In September 2021, Microsoft expanded the service to Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico.In June 2022, the service was expanded further to include Argentina and New Zealand. In November 2025, the service was expanded further to include India.
Games
The Xbox Series X/S's backward compatibility allows xCloud to retain the existing library of Xbox games while adding new games from the Xbox Series X/S. The Xbox Game Pass Library currently lists 382 cloud-enabled games. The list includes Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 5, The Outer Worlds, Yakuza Kiwami 2, and Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was the first game to support full touch controls. Touch controls have since been added to another 186 games.
Microsoft introduced cloud play support for selected original Xbox and Xbox 360 titles using its backward compatibility program starting in March 2021 with 16 titles available. Players are able to use cloud-based saved games from the original release of these titles if they have used that service as part of Xbox Live Gold. Some of the games also support official touch controls when played on mobile devices.
In November 2024, Microsoft announced the ability to stream eligible games that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users have purchased from the Microsoft Store which were not already in the Xbox Game Pass library. The list of eligible games is regularly updated alongside the monthly Xbox Game Pass additions.
Reception The service received generally positive initial impressions from reviewers. Playing over a T-Mobile LTE connection with just 25 Mbit/s download speed caused no effect on image quality. Even while playing on a moving bus and train, there was no noticeable loss of image quality.
Reviewers also reported that starting up games on the phone feels faster because the games are running on more powerful remote servers rather than a hard drive on a console. Load times are also minimized and closer to a PC gaming experience.
Hardware
Xbox Cloud Gaming runs via Microsoft's 54 Azure cloud computing centers, hosted in 140 countries. Microsoft upgraded its server blades to the more capable Xbox Series X hardware in 2021.
The service is designed to work with phones, either with touchscreen controls or a game controller over Bluetooth. Notable supported controller models include: Official Xbox controllers Xbox Wireless Controller Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 1 and Series 2 Xbox Adaptive Controller Logitech Gamepad F310 Wireless Gamepad F710 G920 G923 (Xbox edition) G PRO Racing Wheel (Xbox edition) RS50 (Xbox edition) Valve Corporation Steam Controller Razer Inc. Kishi (Xbox edition) Kishi v2 for iPhone (Xbox edition) Kishi v2 Pro (Xbox edition) Kishi v3 Kishi v3 Pro Kishi v3 Pro XL Kishi Ultra Prio Wolverine Ultimate Wolverine Tournament Edition Wolverine v2 Wolverine v2 Chroma Wolverine v3 Pro Wolverine v3 Tournament Edition Wolverine v3 Bluetooth Atrox Arcade Stick Raiju Mobile Gaming Controller for Android Junglecat Razer Wireless Controller Sony DualShock 4 Wireless Controller DualSense Wireless Controller SteelSeries Stratus XL for Windows, Android, and VR Stratus Duo for Windows, Chromebook, Android, and VR Stratus+ for Windows, Chromebook, and Android Nimbus+ for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple TV Nimbus Cloud Aeon Pro Backbone Labs Backbone One (Xbox edition) Backbone Pro (Xbox edition) Google Stadia Controller Amazon Luna Controller Nintendo Joy-Con Joy-Con 2 Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Gamevice Gamevice for Android Gamevice for iPhone Gamevice for iPad Flex for Android Flex for iPhone Nacon MG-X (Xbox edition) MG-X Pro (Xbox edition) Revolution X Pro Controller Revolution X Unlimited Controller Pro Compact Controller Xbox Revo Controller Xbox Revo Pro Controller Xbox Revo Max Controller EVOL-X EVOL-X Pro Daija Arcade Stick (Xbox edition) GameSir X2 Pro Mobile Game Controller X4 Aileron Xbox Mobile Gaming Controller X5 Lite for Xbox X5s Wireless Mobile Game Controller Kaleid Xbox Wired Controller Kaleid Flux Xbox Wired Controller T7 Wired Controller for Xbox T7 Pro Floral Wired Controller for Xbox T7 Pro Sugar Whirl Wireless Controller for Xbox T7 Pro Retro Green Game Controller Tarantula Pro Wired eSports Controller for Xbox & PC G7 SE Xbox Wired Controller G7 HE Xbox Wired Controller G7 Pro Tri-Mode Xbox Wired, PC & Mobile Wireless Controller G8 Plus MFi Type-C Mobile Controller (Apple Certified) ContrlPWR Cloud Gaming Controller for iOS (Xbox edition) Amkette EvoFox Deck Smartphone Gamepad EvoFox Deck 2 Smartphone Gamepad EvoFox Go Smartphone Bluetooth Gamepad Evo Gamepad Pro 4 for Android Smartphones Hori HORIPAD Pro HORIPAD Turbo SL Fighting Stick α (Alpha) Fighting Commander OCTA PowerA MOGA XP5-A Plus MOGA XP5-i Plus MOGA XP5-X Plus MOGA XP7-X Plus MOGA XP-ULTRA Multi-Platform Wireless Controller for Mobile, PC and Xbox Series X|S Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Enhanced Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Nano Enhanced Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Spectra Infinity Enhanced Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Symmetric Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Advantage Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Advantage Plus Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller for Xbox Series X|S FUSION Pro 2 Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S FUSION Pro 3 Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S FUSION Pro 4 Wired Controller for Xbox Series X|S FUSION Pro Wireless Controller for Xbox Series X|S OPS v1 Wireless Controller for PC and Cloud Gaming OPS v3 Pro Wireless Controller for PC and Cloud Gaming with Lumectra Turtle Beach Corporation Recon Controller Recon Cloud Hybrid Game Controller Atom Controller REACT-R Controller Stealth Ultra Wireless Controller with Rapid Charge Dock Stealth Pivot Wireless Smart Controller Pacific Skyline Wireless Controller Racer Wireless Racing Wheel PDP Wired Controller PDP Afterglow Wired RGB Gaming Controller PDP Rematch Core Wired Controller PDP Afterglow Ignite Wired Controller PDP Rematch Advanced Wired Controller PDP Rematch Wireless RGB Gaming Controller PDP Rematch Glow Advanced Wired Controller PDP Afterglow Wired Controller (Xbox edition) PDP Afterglow Wave Wired Controller (Xbox edition) PDP Neon Wired Controller PDP REALMz Wired Controller (Xbox edition) PDP REALMz Wireless Controller (Xbox edition) PDP Riffmaster Wireless Guitar Controller (Xbox edition) PDP REPLAY Wireless Controller Victrix Pro KO Leverless Fight Stick (Xbox edition) Victrix Pro BFG Wireless Controller (Xbox edition) Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded Wireless Modular Controller (Xbox edition) Victrix Gambit Dual Core Tournament Controller Victrix Gambit Prime Tournament Controller
Mobile devices Android