xCloud
It would appear that Microsoft has plans to move its xCloud streaming servers from the Xbox One architecture to that of the Xbox Series X. Thanks to the resulting increase in power, it appears Microsoft will be able to increase the resolution when streaming games via xCloud up to 1080p.Windows Central has received some screenshots from anonymous sources that allow you to see, among other things, the game resolution of an enhanced version of xCloud. Currently, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and other games streamed via xCloud max out at 720p. Now, it looks like Microsoft is testing 1080p.
Stadia has been largely ignored by consumers, and recent changes in first party team management don't bode well, but it needs to be remembered that for Google's platform, 1080p is the resolution. standard, with 4K available for a fee. xCloud is convenient as it is included in the Game Pass, but on a technical level it still has to decrease the distance with the competition.
Certainly xCloud would benefit from better performance and be able to convince more and more players to test the service, so as to taking Xbox gaming out of local ecosystems. For now, in any case, it is only a report and not official information. There is nothing left to do but wait for new information.
Here is the Xbox Game Pass news for February 2021: second batch of free games for Xbox, PC and xCloud.
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Microsoft’s unreleased xCloud app for Windows has Xbox touch controls, gyro, and more
© Illustration by Alex Castro / The VergeMicrosoft is finalizing its Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows PCs, which includes access to streaming games from the company’s xCloud service. We’ve managed to get access to the latest version of the Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows, an unannounced and unreleased app. Once released, the app will let Windows users stream games from their Xbox Series S / X consoles, and from xCloud.
Currently, you can’t stream games from the new Xbox consoles to Windows PCs, as this is unsupported in the existing Xbox Console Companion app. This new app will solve that, and also bring xCloud streaming to Windows PCs for the first time. We first got a look at this xCloud app for Windows last year, and it has improved a lot since then.
The Xbox remote play feature, for connecting to Xbox consoles, works similarly to how the existing Console Companion does. You can remotely wake an Xbox console, sign in, and play games wherever you are.
There is now full touch support, allowing Surface or other touchscreen devices to play Xbox games without a controller. Microsoft also appears to be readying some form of gyro support here, too. There’s an option to enable this, but it doesn’t appear to be fully functional yet. This is an internal beta application, so it’s still unfinished.
Microsoft also appears to be readying 1080p streams for xCloud, instead of the 720p that exists today. This would obviously improve the experience on Windows PCs, ahead of higher resolutions once Microsoft has upgraded its xCloud servers to include Xbox Series X hardware.
It’s still not clear exactly when this app will be made available more broadly. Microsoft is rumored to be planning a “what’s new for gaming” event for next month, so it’s possible we’ll hear a lot more about the company’s xCloud plans (for the web and iOS, too) very soon.